The Chronicles Of An Over Qualified Stark Industries Employee
by ChatterBox1
Summary: Working for Tony Stank-ahem-Tony Stark was less than ideal. If she was being honest, she quite preferred Ned Stark to Tony Stark, at least Ned had plans. Tony didn't even know when he should put on pants. Every sign is telling her to quit, but she hasn't. Why? Because he's Tony Stark. One-shots from the POV of one of Tony's employee's. Avengers might show up later. T for swearing.
1. Meetings, Metallica Shirts & Pickle Jars

_**This is to just help me get over some humps and writer's block. It isn't going to be a full chaptered story, just a story of one-shots and an OC. The only time I will probably write for this is when I have writer's block or just want to have some fun because life gets you down sometimes.**_

* * *

Tony Stark was a dick but he was a well-paying dick. Rome was pretty sure that the prick had paid off all her student loans just so he could keep her around. Her degree had been in Business but she needed an internship. When she applied at Stark Industry she didn't that she was going to get it. They had told her the interview would be with Pepper Potts. Well, turned out Pepper had been sick that day and Tony wanted to do the interviews himself.

When he read off her name he raised an eyebrow at it. Yeah, her parents were probably high when they named her but it wasn't the worst name out there. Rome Matthews wasn't a terrible name it was just an odd one. The interview went all downhill from there. With a few jabs at her degree, Rome had had enough. She stood up from her chair and told Tony Stark to promptly, and she quotes, "Fuck off, Tony Stank." Then left by slamming the door.

She felt good about for about thirty seconds and then she hit the elevator and freaked the fuck out. He was probably going to blacklist her. When she got the call, the next day saying she got the job Rome had almost dropped her phone.

That was three years ago. Somehow Stark had dug his claws into her and charmed her into taking a job at his company. He offered the job of business development manager. She was going to turn it down because the internship had practically been hell. Then Tony told her what her yearly salary was, and Rome immediately asked where she had to sign.

Look, it wasn't like she was some greedy money, hungry bitch. She was a biracial girl who grew up in a rural area in the middle of Central Pennsylvania. Her parents were exactly making any cash either. Her mother was a grossly underpaid school teacher while her father, bless his heart, worked at the grain processing plant. When she saw an opportunity for cash she took it.

Although considering some of the stuff that Tony put her through Rome honestly deserved a raise. Like, now for example. She had a very important meeting that she was supposed to get to until Tony texted her that saying that it was an emergency. Fearing that something had gone wrong with his arc reactor in his chest. Rome had slammed her hoagie down on her desk and rushed over up to the 70th floor as fast as her heels could take her.

However, that was not the case when she walked into the room. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of a perfectly healthy and fine Tony. The problem that he had, you may ask? His hand was stuck in a pickle jaw and he needed her help to get it out.

"Let's be honest here, not the worst situation you've caught me in." He said sarcastically.

Rome sighed and walked over to him, "No, it hasn't but I don't think you could ever top _that_ moment." She snorted as she grabbed the jar his hand was stuck in and tried wiggling it, "It's like every time I see a picture of Cher I see you."

"Hey!" Tony yelled almost sounding offended by her comment, "I looked great in those fishnets. You can't deny it Rome, I made a great drag queen."

"Drag Queens are pretty, Tony. What you were that night was not pretty." She tried twisting the jaw a little more, but nothing was working, and she huffed in annoyance. Standing back, she adjusted her black pencil skirt and stared at the jar hoping that it would just pop off so she could go to her meeting. Stoking her chin and narrowing her eyes she finally came up with a solution, "We should call Pepper."

"Already tried, she's busy in Malibu with some other meetings and shit like that." He huffed.

"We could always just break it."

"And risk getting glass in my hand, uh, no I don't think so. How about we just do the push-pull method and see how that works out."

"Tony no."

"Come on, it will be fun."

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "Alright, fine, you're the genius here." Grabbing the bottom of the jaw again Rome pulled with all her might. It took a couple of seconds and some wiggling but eventually the jar gave and both her and Tony were sent flying back. Unfortunately, so was the pickle juice because as she stumbled back the jar's contents landed on her. It's like she was watching it happen in slow motion and she watched in horror as the juice ruined her favorite blouse and skirt in two seconds flat.

"I really fucking hate you." She mumbled.

He let out a bark of a laugh, "No you don't." He then examined his newly free hand, "I didn't think that would actually work."

Yeah. Rome decided as she laid down on the ground. She really hated her fucking life.

"Hey, Rome?" Tony asked and she closed her eyes wondering if she ignored him he would eventually just go away.

He didn't. Ignoring him was the wrong thing to do because somebody didn't get enough love as a child. Tony had reverted to a state of a five-year-old craving attention from his caretaker and since Pepper wasn't around that role fell to her. Lord, she loves that redhead but why she settles for the garbage fire that was Tony Stark's emotional capacity she'll never know. Tony kept pestering her, with her name, and variations of it. The final straw was when he crawled over to her and started poking her in the ribs.

"Rome?" He asked like he was a child even though he was old enough to be her weird uncle.

"WHAT!" She screamed opening her eyes and murdering him silently in her head. If it wasn't for her yearly salary then she would have done it by now.

"Why do you yell so much?"

Rome propped herself up on to her elbows and glared at Tony, "I don't know. Maybe's it's the fact that my boss, who calls me away from an important meeting, asks me to help get his hand free from a pickle jar. Because even though the said boss is an alleged genius he still can't figure out how to get his hand out of a pickle jar."

" _Alleged genius_?" Tony asked scandalized putting a hand over his heart, "Rome, I built JARVIS." He said.

"Yeah, so you don't know have to work with people because you're terrible at it." She said as she got up to her feet. She looked down at her shirt and sighed at the huge stain that was now present on the front. She couldn't go to the meeting like that and screamed internally, she should really ask her doctor to up the dosage on her anti-anxiety medication. Which she never had to take before working for Tony, because he was that much of an absolute nightmare. But, damnit he was a well paying absolute nightmare that paid off her student loan debt.

Looking over to Tony she pulled her shirt out from her skirt and stared at it, "I don't suppose you have any spare clothing around that isn't littered with STD's?"

"Oh, ha-hah, very funny." He faked laughed then took off his Metallica shirt and threw it at her, "Just put that on you'll be fine."

Rome grabbed the shirt and glared at it in her hand before shaking it in front of Tony's face. "This isn't casual Friday Tony! I have a presentation to do, at a meeting that I'm already late for, for your company! I can't wear this."

Tony waved his hand in the air, "What are they going to do? Fire you, I'll just hire you right back."

"Tony, despite your whole devil may care and I don't give a shit look. People, _business_ people, actually care how you look. They will take me way more seriously if I'm not wearing this shirt."

"Well, you could always go topless. I'm sure that will gain their attention. I know I would pay more attention."

"Tony when it the last time you even went to a business meeting that you didn't sleep through?" She asked while staring at him expectantly. He closed his mouth and started to think, "See, the fact that you have to think about this just proves my point. You shouldn't be giving out advice when it comes to people because you are shit at it."

Tony just shrugged and took his jar of pickles reaching into it and pulling on out. He plopped it into his mouth and smiled at her, "It's either that shirt or go topless, you're choice Rome."

Rome sighed. This was going to be a long meeting.

* * *

She walked through the elevator doors into Tony's penthouse. The Metallic shirt that was Tony's basically swallowing her up. She had tried the old middle schooler trick with a rubber band but the amount of time she had to re-tie it was annoying. Rome's hair was a mess from her hand running through it. Her makeup was half rubbed off from the number of times she had to wipe her face with sweat. She was also pretty sure that she had a new blister forming on the end of her heel from the new pumps she was wearing.

On the plus side, they approved her idea.

Rome noticed the distinct sound of metal clinging together and she knew that Tony was working on a suit. Walking over to his fridge she opened it, grabbed two beers, and walked down to his workshop. The doors automatically opened for her, she found that JARVIS had never once asked for her permission to come in. Either because even JARVIS was pissed off by Tony's attitude and like hearing her yell at him from time to time. Or Tony was a big masochist and loved it when she yelled at him with the occasional head slap. Look, Rome knew that their relationship was very odd and very unprofessional but, so was Tony Stark. That was literally his brand: Odd and Unprofessional. Rome laughed she should trademark that.

Making her way over to his table she sat down upon it and opened up on of the beers. She waited patiently for Tony to stop hammering away on what looked to be a chest plate. She could see the blue outline of his arc reactor in his chest and she wondered how he slept. Did he have to sleep on his back always or could he sleep on his chest? What was it like going through metal detectors at airports or even working with magnets?

He was finally finished with one more bang and looked at his piece in triumph. He was covered in sweat and oil and the bags under his eyes told her hadn't slept in days. Rome wasn't judging though, neither had she.

Panting Tony came over to her and sat down next to her and grabbed the other beer. He opened it with ease and took a sip. "How'd the meeting go?" He asked.

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "They approved my idea." She said casually. Then looked over at his smirking face and eyed him suspiciously, "You didn't have anything to do with that did you?"

Tony gave her a look of fake innocents and threw his hands up in surrender, "I didn't say do anything."

Rome snorted, "Yeah, alright and you're not Iron Man." She said sarcastically.

Tony chuckled and threw his arm around her shoulder pulling her in closer, "You know why I hired you Rome?"

"Because I have a weird name that gives you too many opportunities."

He nodded his head, "Well, yeah, but it wasn't the only reason."

"Because I was a fresh face college student and you knew that if you paid off all my student loans I would work for you."

He then nodded again, "Okay, besides that point."

"I've got none." She said putting her beer down and resting her elbows on her knees creating horrible posture her mother would faint over.

Tony shook her shoulders slightly trying to cheer her up, "I hired you because you know what the hell you're talking about." He said truthfully and she perked up a bit, "When I interviewed you, you didn't once hesitate on any of the questions no matter how weirdly personal they were. When it came to the actual business side you tried to get me to understand."

"Tried?" She asked.

"Look, I still don't understand half the stuff you do but I know that you're good at it. You tried getting me invested in my own company. I knew that if you could keep my attention for more than five minutes then you would have no trouble with ten other generic white men." He said laughing slightly at the last part.

Rome snorted, "Tell me about it, they all look the same to me now. I can't even tell the difference sometimes."

"Point is, Rome," Tony said forcing her to face him and she looked up at him with her sad brown eyes. "You don't need me, you never have, and you know that. If you want something, Rome, then you have the ability to just fucking take it."

Rome smiled and perked up fixing her posture just a bit. Her lifted when Tony said that. Yeah, okay, he was her boss and probably trying to keep her on and make sure she wouldn't quit, ( _Like she would ever?)._ But, when push comes to shove he was a half decent friend if you got enough alcohol into his system. Rome started to think that maybe he wasn't such a dick after all.

"But, really though, how'd the meeting go, Romulus? Any old guys started eyeing your D cups up?" Rome let out a noise of disgust and punched Tony in the shoulder. Who just started laughing at his own statement and took another swig of beer.

Yeah, no, scratch everything nice she had just thought about him.

Tony Stark was still a dick.

But he was also her friend.


	2. Vodka, Pissed Off God, and Paid Vacation

_Manhattan, New York_

 _Day of the Invasion_

Rome still hated her life and somehow Tony always seemed to be at the center of it. Currently, she hated him because somehow, he managed to piss off a fucking Norse God. Rome doesn't know how Tony did it, but he did. Honestly, after working for him for so long she really isn't fazed by this stuff as she should be. For example, said Norse god was now standing in front of her while she just displayed a bored look on her face. Dude was wearing all green and black with a Christmas tree as a haircut. He looked like he had been studying for finals and about the only thing that made him look like a god and not a college student; was the giant fucking glowing blue scepter in his hands?

Rome looked from him, his two henchmen, then back to him. She then sighed and her shoulders deflated, "What did the idiot do?" She asked.

The god actually looked surprised by her comment, "I beg your pardon?"

She then wavered her hands in the air and walked over to the bar area slamming her papers down on the counter. Grabbing the vodka from the top shelf she uncorked it and stared at the glass in front of her. She then shrugged her shoulders and took a swig of it just from the bottle. "Tony Stark? About yea high, and an ego that makes you want to punch him in the face every five fucking minutes."

"Not a fan." He asked coming towards her slightly.

Rome took another swig and rolled her eyes, "He's my boss and he pays me well, doesn't mean I'm not going to complain."

"You're not afraid of me?" The god asked again.

"Buddy, I'm not going to lie here, you might be about to kill me, but in the ten seconds that I've talked to you, I can tell you've got more manners than half the men on this planet. Which makes me ask, why do you want Earth of all places, we fucking suck dude. Humanity isn't worth it, I mean why aim so low if you're a fucking god?"

The god tilted his head to the side and as if trying to figure out if this was a trick or not. The liquid luck was helping though and Rome was now on a role, "I'm mean seriously! Have you seen our history? We are fucking terrible when it comes to getting our shit together. I mean we can't go twenty years without a new war. And don't get me started on the politics of this place I mean if we're going to talk about that I might actually beg you to kill me."

The gods' shoulders relaxed a bit and he sat down on the counter. She pours him and glass and handed it to him. He picked it up with great caution and she raised an eyebrow, "I didn't poison it." He then accepted it and took a sip. His face swirled in disgust and she laughed.

"You drink this?" He asked and she nodded her head, "But it's vile?"

"I don't drink it for the taste." She said then to prove a point took another swig. The god waved his two henchmen off and they went to work. "So, what's your name anyway?"

"I am Loki, son of…"

"Yeah, asked for a name, not the whole life story, pal." She said cutting him off and he glared at her, "So, Loki, huh? God of mischief and such?"

"Correct."

She took another swig and then leaned forward, "So, did you actually fuck an eight-legged horse or where the Vikings just into some really kinky shit?"

Loki actually spit out his drink, "What?" He asked leaning forward slightly.

Rome just shrugged her shoulders, "I don't the whole story but, I think you either fucked the horse or gave birth to it. It's all very confusing. Then there's this whole Jim Carrey movie about you creating a mask but I don't recommend it. I mean, I'm all for over the top but…that movie was just out there." She said waving her hand in the air then she looked at him, "So, really though, what did Tony do to piss you off so much."

"Do I need a reason?" He asked.

Rome made a noise of agreement, "Guess not with Tony, but, seeing as you're trying to take over the entire world. One would think that you would do the villain monologuing and tell me what the big plans are. Who wronged you in your life and how you plan on doing such and such."

Rome then reached down and took out the little bag of blueberries that Tony hid. She opened them up with her teeth and started munching on them. She looked to Loki and help out the bag as an offering, "What some?" She asked.

"No." He said simply and eyed her with even more attention. "You're being unbelievable calm about all this."

Rome snorted, "Not going to lie here, Loki. You're probably going to fail, it's just how this works, figures I would give you a couple of moments of rare success before you fail epically."

Loki then rose from his seat, "Your heroes will not come to save you." He spat out gripping his scepter tighter.

"Sure, they won't," Rome said sarcastically. "Just like the Earth is flat." She then kicked herself up and walked over to Loki. He was unbelievable taller than her, but honestly, she didn't care, right now she was going to put him in his place. "You see Loki, there's just one thing you forgot to account for when it comes to the human race. See, we may be dumb, stupid, and destined to fall since the beginning of our time. But, here's the thing; we don't go down without a fight." She then chuckled, "If you think we'll go quietly, then maybe you are truly, without a doubt, the dumbest person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. And Buddy," She then poked him in the chest, "I've met all the Kardashians."

"I'll make you my slave." He snarled bringing the staff down to her chest.

Rome smirked, "You can do that, but I give it an hour tops before this all goes crashing down."

"You'll be kept waiting."

"Humor me."

"I'm afraid I could never stoop to that level."

He then pressed the staff to her chest and everything went blank.

* * *

Rome groaned as she opened her eyes. She had a massive headache and Tony's obnoxious voice was in the background. She fluttered her eyes opened to see a very beat up looking Tony smiling at her as he held one side of her face. "There she is!" Tony exclaimed, "Little Miss Sleeping Beauty awakens." He said in a sing-song voice.

Rome blinked in confusion as she saw she was surrounded by a group of other people. Some of which she knew of and the others she did not. "Tony, what the hell?" She asked and moved his face out of the way, "You're the last thing I want to see when coming back to consciousness."

"Yep." Tony said with deadpanned, "She's back."

"How are you feeling Ma'am?" The man who bore a striking resemblance to Captain America asked.

Rome rubbed the side of her head, "Like, Tony after he comes back from Vegas."

Tony sucked in a breath, "Ooh, that's not good. We'll get you something for a headache, Natasha here had to knock you out to get you back." Tony said pointing to the redhead with the catsuit.

Rome frowned and pointed at her as she squinted her eyes, "Weren't you the girl that Tony hired a couple months back?"

"Yes."

"Huh." Rome said then turned to Tony, "I told you something was off about her. No Ten like that would ever willingly work for someone like you."

Tony scoffed, "Rome, that's rude."

"I had to deal with a pissed off Norse god because of you, I'm entitled to a little rudeness."

Tony reached out a hand and she took it. He gently helped her to her feet and let her put some of his weight on his shoulder. "I saw that by the way, JARVIS recorded everything. What were you thinking sassing him like that? Not that I'm not impressed though, you gave out some pretty sick burns."

Rome shrugged her shoulders and action that she soon regretted, "I figured he wasn't going to kill me because I worked for you."

Tony shook his head, "That's actually pretty smart." He then gestured to a man with the biggest biceps she had ever seen. He was holding a hammer in his hand so Rome was going to safely assume that this was Thor.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Loki's your brother?" She asked.

Thor grimaced and titled his head to the side, "Adopted." He said, stating the technicality.

"Well, he's an ass." She said while rubbing her head, then smirked, "How long from when I was enslaved to when you guys took his little punk ass down?"

Tony grinned, "Forty-five minutes." He said with a slight laugh.

Rome chuckled then turned her attention back to Thor, "Hey, Point-Break?" She asked Thor flinging her index finger in his general direction, "Can you give your brother a message for me?"

Thor furrowed his brow but nodded anyway, "I suppose."

"Tell him he should have stooped to my level," Rome told him while smirking. She felt like she needed a pair of sunglasses to put on while 'The Who' plays in the background. Tony had laughed while clutching his chest and placed an arm around her shoulders pulling her in closer.

"Ah, Romulus, I've been such a bad influence on you." He said, "Sassing you're enemy even with the threat of death looming over you."

Rome snorted, "Please, I live for the last quip." She then shrugged his arm off of her, "And what else was I going to fight him with. My paperwork? Sarcasm was my only defense against him."

"I'm sure you could have punched him?"

"I'm sure you could not have pissed him off in the first place but seeing as that's against everything you practically are, that was never going to happen. So, I guess we'll both be left disappointed in life or until the next alien invasion."

There was a throat clearing and she looked over to Captain America, "You'll think they'll be another invasion."

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sure the human race will find another alien to piss off. He or she will probably come here try to shoot a blue beam into the sky. I'm sure they'll be plenty or quips, Tony will piss someone off. You'll say something inspiring, the two assassins over there will do something… I guess. Thor will probably summon some lighting and ride Mjolnir around for a little bit, Hulk will, well, Hulk out. I'll probably get stuck in the middle of it somehow because I guess I'm a magnet for that shit. Then you'll come together with the power of friendship and defeat them."

"Really?" Captain America asked.

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "Hell if I know, it's not like I'm some sort of seer or omniscient being. I just work for Tony." She said the last part while pointing at the man. "Speaking of work, am I safe to assume that I'll be getting paid medical leave?"

Tony smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "And vacation."

Rome smiled and winked at him, "Good decision." She said then gestured to the mess around her, "Now clean this up, if Pepper sees this she's going to kill us."

"Can't we at least eat first?!" Tony whined.

Rome rolled her eyes and waved the other people a goodbye. She had not responded to Tony for two simple reasons. One: He was Tony and he was going to do whatever he wanted. Two: A small part of her, very minuscular part of her, enjoyed the fact that Tony now had other friends to annoy.


	3. The Trial of Loki: Someone's Desperate

**_Hey...So, I got a full-time job so sorry if I'm a little late to updating. It shouldn't be too long though, I have most of it handwritten out I just need to type it up. Also, I know that this is so not how it works but I just wanted to have more Rome and Loki interaction. This is, after all, a two-parter so why not have some fun with it?_**

* * *

Rome was sitting at her desk about to eat her hoagie when she heard a knock on her door. She paused and looked up to see that Thor was standing outside her door. Her mouth was hanging open as she stared at the god in shock. He was standing outside her door waving at her enthusiastically a big bright smile on his face. When a large piece of lettuce fell out of her hoagie Rome was able to snap back into it.

"Oh my god." She said quickly as she dropped her hoagie and ran over to the door. She was afraid that if Thor knocked again then maybe he would break her door. It's not that she would mind it but, it would be nice to not have to replace her door. It would be the second time this year alone that she would have too. The first time was due to Tony making a slight miscalculation on his suits tech, something she was still bitter over.

Running over to the door, Rome wiped her hands on her skirt and opened the door with a smile. "Thor!" She greeted kindly and opened the door more so he could come in. "What are you doing here?" She still kept the kindness but she hoped that he couldn't tell how annoyed she was on the inside.

"Greetings Lady Romulus." He said with a bright smile holding out his hand for a handshake. Rome still smiled but almost flinched when he called her that terrible nickname. Rome took the hand and shook it. She was taken aback by the feeling of Thor almost tearing off her arm by the sheer force of the handshake. "The Man of Iron told me that you would be here."

Rome cleared her throat, "Tony told you where I work?" She asked through clenched teeth.

"Yes, I needed to find you and he told me of this building. Saying that you would not be doing anything of importance."

She cleared her throat again and gave a bitter laugh, "He did, did he?" She said and clicked her tongue putting her hands on her hips. "Well, it's not like he would understand real work anyway." She muttered to herself and turned back to Thor. "Please, take a seat." She motioned to the Asgardian.

He nodded and walked over to one of the chairs in front of her desk. He plopped down on the chair and clasped his hands together smiling at her. If she was a normal person without people training she would say that Thor looked quite happy and content. But, she was a businesswoman who specialized in people and she could tell that he was uncomfortable. The way that he was bouncing his leg up and down, the way he lightly tapped his fingers against his thighs. Thor was nervous as hell and she got the feeling that she wasn't going to like why.

Pushing her lunch to the side she smiled at Thor, "Is there something that I can help you with, Thor."

Thor's head perked up and smiled at her tilting his head to the side. "Well, yes, actually there is." Rome knew this tone. Her mother had practically invented this tone. It was the 'I need your help with something' tone. Rome really hated this tone. Thor then gave her a guilty smile and leaned forward a bit, "You see, as you know Loki tried taking over Midgard and enslaved multiple people."

"Yes, I remember… as it was only two months ago and I was one of those said people."

He gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, you see, my brother's trial is coming up and he's calling a witness."

"A witness?" Rome asked, "You guys do that?"

"Yes, but besides that, my brother has called you as his witness."

Rome stopped where she was. Her body was frozen in time because of the words she had just heard. Loki, the man she had insulted multiple times and had been enslaved by, wanted her to…help him? The idea was so absurd that she actually started to laugh. Why in the hell would he want her help? She was just some puny mortal that was below him. Yet, now when he needed it most, he was calling upon her for help? Her life truly was fucked up. That or Loki was truly desperate.

As she laughed more the look on Thor's face changed. Instead of smiling like he once was; he frowned and let his shoulder slouch. His whole demeanor changed and looking at the sad look on his face made her stop laughing. "Oh…" She said trailing off, "You were being serious."

He looked at her guiltily, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Rome straightened up and gave him a hard look, "And why would I help, Loki?"

Thor gave a deep sigh, "I know that he does not deserve your kindness or help, Lady Romulus." He started and she could hear the sincerity in his voice, "But Loki, even with all his faults, he's still…" Thor trailed off.

"…he's still your brother." She finished for him and he nodded.

"Without your help, he will probably be sentenced to death. I don't think that I can bear to watch my own brother die before me. Knowing that I could have done something to help him even if he doesn't want it."

Rome watched him with a frown on his face. On the one hand, his brother was Loki and he did kill a bunch of people. On the other hand, Thor was a pure ray of sunshine and she didn't want to upset him. She was an only child but she was close to her one cousin and she knew that if anything happened to her. She would do anything to help her or get her back because she was family.

Rome closed her eyes and sighed running a finger through her hair. Although she found it difficult because her hair was tied back into a bun. So, soothing back the hairs that had flown anyway from their place on her head. She opened her eyes back up and stared at Thor's eyes, he was pleading with her and she was a sucker for the puppy dog eyes. "Alright." She sighed out and Thor visibly brightened, "Just let me know when we need to leave and I'll be ready by then." Thor then gave her another guilty look, "What?" She asked.

Thor put his index finger and thumb close together, "There is a slight problem."

"What?" She asked again more irritated.

Thor smiled and chuckled nervously, "The trial starts in about four hours."

"Four hours?" She cried out. "Why did you wait so long!?"

Thor held his hands up in surrender, "Don't blame me, Loki was the one who called your name last minute."

Rome slammed her head against her desk and groaned. She then started to repeatedly to hit her head lightly against the desk. She was pretty sure that when she was done that she was going to have a red mark there. Accepting her fate, she stopped her motions and looked up at Thor, "Well," She said in defeat throwing her hand up in the air, "Let's go."

Thor smiled brightly again. It was at this moment that she thought that Thor resembled a golden retriever. He stood up from the chair so quickly that it slammed back against the wall. He gave her an apologetic look and she just sighed again.

This was going to be a long, long, _long_ day.

* * *

Asgard, was, well, bright and golden. As Rome walked the Rainbow bridge, or as she dubbed it the "Mario Cart Level." Her eyes could not be taken away from the main castle. It reminded her of the church organ she used to see all the time when her grandmother dragged her to church every Sunday. Mrs. McGee would play the organ like she was a rock star while the choir of young unenthusiastic teens tried to keep up. It was always a huge mess that would end it mediocre applause. Rome couldn't help but compare the two. The castle really did look like an organ piano.

"So, it's very…golden." She said to Thor while trying to make conversation.

He smiled as the walked along. They were almost at the end of the bridge and she could see the bustle of people at the end. "Yes, it is, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She said simply. They went back to silences and she tried her best not to let her anxiety get the best of her. After the attack on New York, her therapist asked her how she was doing. She had said she was fine but her therapist saw right through her. She upped her medicine dosage to thirty milligrams and Rome had almost cried. She thought she was getting better at managing her anxiety but clearly, she wasn't. Tony was the first person to have pointed it out in the first place. Her parents never really thought that she had anxiety. They just thought she was an all-around nervous person with some slight control issues. Well, they weren't wrong about the control issues but that was another topic for another day. Tony was the person who had brought it up after one of his speeches and how she freaked out when he fucked it up. He then asked her more questions and sent her to the therapist. Even since then she had been seeing the doctor.

But being here. In this big golden city about to help a man who tried to kill her. Was not doing the best for her mental health.

Swallowing her fear and taking a deep breath she told herself that it was going to be okay. That this wasn't going to go off the charts. That she was safe and that Thor was going to be by her side in case she needed any help. There was no way that this could go wrong. Knock on wood or whatever the rainbow bridge was.

They came to the edge of the bridge and entered the threw the gates. She kept her head up and tried not to be bothered by the stares that she was getting. Although if she was being honest here, the one thing she was feeling insecure about was her clothing. She's guessing the dark green blouse and black pencil skirt that ended right above her knee. This fashion, she guessed, was something they had never seen before. The people were looking at her like she was a new species. It was either that or the fact that she was walking side by side with a swaggering Thor.

Thor was unaffected by all the stares. Rome was guessing this was due to the life of growing up a royal. It was almost the same way that Tony gave no shits about the tabloids or the paparazzi. He was the son of a famous inventor/businessman. He helped make Freaking Captain America, there was no way that Tony was going to go unnoticed.

When they made it through the city and into the castle. Rome literally sighed in relief and tried to let herself relax. There were guards surrounding every entrance and as soon as she walked through the doors they stopped them. Thor straightened his back and cleared his throat, "Take us to, Loki." He demanded.

The guard looked at her, "The girl." The guard asked.

Thor narrowed his eyes, "She is his witness." He said again and the guard nodded turning around. He started walking away from them and Thor followed him. Taking her cue Rome followed Thor and had to slightly jog to catch up with him. They walked again through the golden castle and this time Rome did take everything in.

The castle was filled with luxury and everything anybody could ever dream of. It was bigger than she could have ever imagined. But, the only thought that she could have was _No wonder Loki got so bored here._ Rome had always hated big houses or mansions. Ever since she was little and spent her summers at her rich Aunt Amy's house. She had hated how the big house had reminded her of how alone she was. She would always get so bored there over the summer. Making mischief was the only way to find some sort of relief in the whole summer.

As they turned a right and made it down the steps, Rome had a sinking feeling in her stomach. When they had reached the end of the stairs the feeling in the air had changed drastically. It was no longer warm and bright. It was cold and dark. The walls were lined with cells and she looked at the one prisoner who seemed to be lying there. It seemed as if there was no wall that was separating her from them.

Thor must have noticed her uneasiness, "Don't worry." He whispered as they continued forward, "There is a barrier that separates them from us. It's invisible so we can see everything they're doing."

"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better." She said quickly and forced herself to look away from the old alien prisoners.

They only walked a little bit further before Rome saw him. He was sitting on the ground, his back against the wall, with a bored expression gracing his face. His hair was unkept from the last time she had seen him and he was still in the same clothes she had seen him in last time. The bags under his eyes and groaned and he looked utterly dead.

He caught sight of her. At first, he looked surprised but then he smiled as if a plan was already coming together in his head. The look made her skin crawl and she grimaced just thinking about being in the same room as him. She didn't show though, she kept her head high and her back straight. Just like her mother had taught her all those years ago.

The came upon his cell door that was guarded by two men. Thor nodded to them and they moved out of the way as the door opened. Thor went first and as soon as he passed the thresh hold he motioned for Rome to follow. She sighed and did so, carefully walking up the steps, careful not to trip over anything.

Rome stood a couple feet away from both Thor and Loki. The whole room entering an awkward silence. Thor then cleared his throat and bowed his head a little bit while putting his hands behind his back, "Brother…" He started but Loki but his hand up to cut him off.

"I requested to speak with her." He said while pointing at Rome.

Thor raised his eyebrow, "You will."

"I don't think you understand me, brother, I mean to speak to her and only her. Nobody else shall be in the room with me."

Thor looked taken aback, "Loki, you know that I cannot allow it."

"Leave, Thor." Rome demanded as locked eyes with Loki, "I'll be fine. Besides it's not like he can do much damage in here anyway."

Loki glared at her little jab at him. They walked around each other like predators trying to outdo each other. Rome didn't stop until she heard the door close and even then, she still circled Loki. Even though he hadn't done much damage to her with his staff. She still hadn't liked the feeling of someone, other than her, being in control of her mind. "Why am I here?" She finally asked while stopping in front of Loki.

Loki, for his part, tried his best to still look intimidating. Although it was rather hard considering she was almost six foot in the heels she was wearing. He didn't have his magic and, honestly, he looked like shit. His green eyes had bags under them making him look even more tired than. Rome then narrowed her eyes at the God. Did he always have green eyes because she could have sworn that when she first met him he had blue eyes? Cold, harsh, vivid, blue eyes. Nonetheless, the bastard still smirked as he cocked his head to the side, "I thought you knew?" He said chastising her as if she was a child, "Or did my brute of a brother forget to tell you?" He sneered.

Rome lifted her chin up in defiance, "Thor told me, but that was him. I wanted to hear it coming from you myself."

"And why is that?" He questioned with a slight eye roll.

Rome glared at him, "Because if I'm going to be wasting my time saving you." She growled, "Then you better make one hell of a case. Loki Odinson."

His head snapped forward and he narrowed his eyes at her, "That's not my name."

Rome raised an eyebrow and walked forward, "Isn't it though? I mean adopted or not, Odin is still your father."

Loki lunged forward, "No!" He roared out.

It took all her courage not to flinch. Rome stared Loki in his eyes, her brown eyes meeting his green ones. She swallowed her fear as she straightened her back, "I don't care what unresolved daddy issues you still have. I get it, what your father did was shitty, trust me I know, but I am here as a favor to Thor. So, I would use that silver tongue of yours and choose your next words very carefully."

Loki looked away with a grimace. He looked as if he was in pain trying to come up with an excuse to talk to her. Clenching his jaw, he turned back to her with a glare, "I don't want to die." He spat out but she could tell that it wasn't the whole truth. He was the God of Lies, after all, he was never going to tell the whole truth. Unfortunately, Loki had never met Rome before, had never seen her in action before. The number of times she had to get different people on board with her at parties or meeting was enormous. In a way her a Loki were similar, only she didn't want to kill people.

Well, not all the time at least.

Rome raised an eyebrow, "Is that all?" She questioned.

He glared at her and Rome smiled. She knew that she'd won.


	4. The Trial of Loki: Odin's A Parenting

They had put her in a dress for this whole trial. Something that displeased her to no end. She was starting to think that maybe Thor was just pulling her leg or something. He assured her that all she would have to do was try to make a half-decent case for Loki. To give Odin one good reason not to kill him. Rome nodded her head and straightened out her dress, yeah, she could do that. She could give one good reason as to why he shouldn't die. Yet.

Taking a deep breath and letting her nerves calm, she had found her way over to a nervous looking Thor. He was standing next to another woman who was older looking in age. She had on a beautiful golden crown along with soft red hair that was up in a brilliant updo. Then to finish it all off she had a golden crown on top of her head and Rome gulped. This was Thor's mother. More than that, this was Loki's mother. Dear God, she was going to have to do this in front of his parents. Rome then began to hyperventilate, this was almost like meeting the parents, except that she and Loki had never dated.

Oh, this was becoming too much for her. This was too much weirdness for her. She wanted Tony back. She wanted his usual sense of weirdness and cockiness back. That she could deal with. She could deal with a man flying around in a metal suit. But, Gods, and pleading for a Norse God's life. That was just a little bit too much for her.

She was just about to turn around when Thor grasped her hand tightly. She looked at him in anger thinking that he was keeping her from leaving but her face fell immediately when she saw his. Thor looked devastated and was clinging to her life as if it was a lifeline. She followed his line of sight to see a chained-up Loki walking with a few guards. A muzzle was around his mouth, chains on his wrists, ankles, and hips. Rome now understood why Thor was holding her hand. He was holding her hand because he needs reassurance that his brother was going to be fine. That he was going to come out of this alive.

Rome closed her eyes and told herself to stay. That Thor needed her and that he was her friend and friends don't leave each other. Especially, when one of those said friends younger brother is on trial for murder.

The pounding of a staff made Rome jump slightly and she turned her attention to whom she assumed was Odin. The big beer belly guy in the middle who was dressed from head to toe, including the eye patch, definitely screamed 'King of Asgard' to her. Rome was starting to think that maybe the whole color scheme of Asgard was just centered around Odin's affiliation for the color gold.

"We are gathered here today to for the trial of Loki Odinson!" He bellowed out and whispered immediately followed. Odin slammed his staff again and the room went quiet, "But, before I make my decision a witness has been called by the accused. Will Rome Matthews please step forward!" Odin then gestured to her and immediately all eyes turned to her.

Rome was thankful for her slightly darkened skin at this very moment in time. At least it made it harder for people to see her blush. She gulped loudly and once again straightened out her blue dress. She straightened her back and walked forward. The whole time ignoring the stares from the people, she rehearsed in her head what she was going to say. She told herself to just think of it as one of her regular board meetings. Except this one was actually a little more life or death.

As she took her place beside King Goldilocks she scanned the room and locked eyes with Loki. Even with that stupid muzzle on, she could tell that he was smirking. It was by the way he lifted his eyebrow that she could tell. That he was waiting for her to make a mistake and screw this whole thing up. Most of all, however, Loki was challenging her.

She thought about throwing everything out the window. To let this case, go to hell but as she turned her gaze towards Thor and his mother. Her heart softened and she knew that she couldn't let Loki die. Taking a breath and letting everything that Loki had told her sink in along with her own personal knowledge Rome would win this case.

"So," Odin said and Rome turned to face him, "Tell me, young one, why should I spare his life."

Rome paused for a moment then spoke, "Because, he's a really good drinking buddy." There was a slight gasp from the audience she could feel the glare from Loki's eyes on her, "Tough crowd." She murmured. She could tell that Odin was tense but she wasn't done yet, she still had more to say. "What Loki did to Earth was wrong, no one is denying that but…" Rome trailed off and remained silent for a moment before continuing, "But, I can understand the reasoning behind it. I can understand the motivation, why he did what he did. I can understand what drove him to such extremes. And it is because of this that I believe that he shows some remorse for his actions."

"And what is that, Miss Matthews?"

Rome narrowed her eyes at Odin, "it's obvious isn't it?" She asked him and he raised is one good eyebrow. Rome scoffed at the king and shook her head laughing darkly, "You might possibly be the worst father ever." She said simply.

Odin was not very happy with this statement, "How dare you…"

He didn't get to finish because Rome had cut him off, "Shut it, One-Eyed Willy!" She yelled pointing a finger at him, "Now, I have had it to here with your Asgardian family drama. I mean seriously, don't therapist exist on this floating rock!" She then flung her arms out and gestured towards Loki, "Your kid, yeah that's right, the one _you_ adopted. Only ever wanted to be recognized by you as an equal, as someone who could rule one day. And honestly, who's to say that he would be bad at it? I know this whole thing is hereditary and shit and you people live to be, like, a million years old but, is Loki really that bad. Really?" She asked and took another look at him in chains, "Besides the murdering people part." She added quickly.

Odin leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard. Rome had a feeling that she hadn't gotten through to him yet, well at least not all the way. Sighing she let her shoulders fall, "Look, even though Loki did mind control me for, like, forty-five minutes. I forgive him." There was another gasp from the audience and Rome met Loki's confused green eyes. Yeah, jokes on you dipshit, she was going off script.

Shaking her head, she turned back to Odin with pleading eyes, "I know what it feels like to be outcasted. To feel unwanted and unloved. To work so hard for one thing your entire life only to have nobody care about it." Rome could feel the tears coming on and she made quick work of getting rid of them, "Most of all though I know the power of forgiveness. I know that you can never give up on family, no matter how tempting they might make it." She then walked closer to Odin and leaned in so that only he could hear the next words. "You'll spare him because he's your son." She said softly, "Because you've already forgiven him even if he may never forgive you."

She pulled back to see his reaction. Odin's jaw was tense but his eyes, well eye really, gave it away. She was right. This whole trial was pointless. Odin was never going to condemn his son to death. This was all just a formality. Rome turned her attention back to Thor to see him smiling gratefully. She then turned her attention to the woman next to him. To his mother who was smiling with tears in her eyes as she silently thanked her.

Another three bangs were heard and it was made finally.

"I have decided that Loki Odinson will not be sentenced to death," Odin yelled and Rome sighed with relief. "He shall live out the rest of his days in the dungeons."

Rome sucked in a breath and gave Odin the stink eye. Worst Father Ever.

* * *

"You have ten minutes." The guard told her and Rome nodded her head and she entered the cell.

Loki was no longer dressed in his metal outfit. Rather a green button up shirt and pants as well. His hair was still slicked back but she could tell that it was becoming slightly undone. He was lounging on a chair bouncing a ball against the wall. He only spared her glance as he continued to bounce the ball.

"That went well." He said sarcastically.

Rome glared as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You asked me to save your life and I did." She then made her way closer to him. The dress she was wearing though made it difficult to do anything. "I put myself on the line out there. The least you could do is be thankful."

"Thankful?" He said incredulously while getting up from his spot, "How am I to be thankful? I am going to spend the rest of my life rotting away in a prison cell."

"Well, it's better than being dead!" She shouted back.

"Is it?"

Rome furrowed her brow, "Look you asked me to help you live. So, I convinced him to let you live, if you wanted more freedom then you should have been more specific about it." She paused, "Or maybe not try and take over an entire planet."

Loki rolled his eyes, "Typical Midgardians, always needing it spelled out for them."

Rome bit her tongue and told herself to behave. She took one calming breath and smiled, "Look, you're alive can't you at least be happy with that?"

Loki scoffed, "If the lady wishes." He spat out his green eyes glaring at her.

There it was again. His eyes were green. Confused, Rome walked towards him and entered his personal space. Before he could even protest she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. She brought his face in closer and she examined his eyes. Yep, they were green, not the blue that she had remembered.

"How are your eyes green?" She asked as she moved his face from side to side.

Loki looked truly confused, "I beg your pardon?"

"Your eyes," She said motioning to her own with her finger, "They were blue when I first met you. Now they're green, can you just change them at will."

Loki looked genuinely confused at her, "My eyes have always been green." Then he gently removed her hand from his face. Rome then backed up realizing how close she had been to him. Hanging around with Tony too much was making her forget that other people had personal spaces as well.

"No." She insisted, "They were blue when I first talked to you."

Loki shook his head, "Rome, my eyes have always been green." He then turned his head to the side, "Well, in this form anyway."

Rome did a double take at his words, "What do you mean 'this form'?" She screeched, "Is this not what you actually look like."

Loki scoffed, "Of course not." He then waved his hand in the air, a green streak following it, "I just simply use magic to make myself look like this."

"Well, what do you actually look like?" She asked. Loki then seemed to grow a bitter expression across his face. Rome sighed and gestured to him.

"A monster." He said simple refusing to meet her gaze.

"Well, now you have to show me," Rome said while crossing her arms over her chest. Loki gave her a look of surprise and she just shrugged her shoulders, "Come on, you hyped it up this much, I kind of want to see it."

He let out a big sigh and like, well magic, Rome watched as he changed before her. His pale skin turning blue while his with different markings along them. She watched as his debated eye color changed from green to an orange-reddish color. The temperature in the room dropped and she forced herself not to shiver. The only thing that was the same about Loki was his hair color. It was still the same long black mess of a hairstyle she had seen only hours ago.

Overall, Rome was not impressed.

"That's it?" She announced, "You just turn into a member of the _Blue Man Group_?"

"I'm a monster." Loki growled in disgust as he turned away from his reflection, "I told what I was taught growing up about the Frost Giants. Then to learn that I was one, it changed everything. I thought about how everyone always treated me differently." Rome could start to hear the cracks in his voice. "I didn't even want to be king," he confessed, "I just wanted my father to see that I could be like Thor."

Rome frowned at him, "Don't do that." She said on instinct.

Loki whirled around and eyed her suspiciously, "Don't do what?" He asked.

"Comparing yourself to Thor." She said, "It's like comparing a cat and a dog or apples and oranges. Both of you have your negatives and your positives. You can't be seen as just one person because the two of you are nothing alike."

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

Rome scoffed, "Well, for one thing, thirty milligrams of Lexapro." She then waved her hand in the air as if telling him to forget about it. She then uncrossed her arms and walked towards him. "Another reason?" She said softly and his eyes met hers, "I've seen actually monsters, Loki. Ones that are far scarier than you. You could've killed me but you didn't, that tells me one thing. It tells me that you were second guessing it. You were second-guessing your decision to take over Earth. It tells me that there is some small part of you that is redeemable. A part that I think, with time and understanding, could actually come to life." She then saw the soft look in his eye, "Don't get me wrong you're a murderer and that's not okay, but, if we were the last two people on Earth." She paused and then smirked, "I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"I'm guessing that's a compliment on Midgard?"

Rome nodded her head and scratched the back of her head with her arm. A nervous tick that she had picked up from Tony. "Yeah, sure, it's a compliment." Rome then got an overwhelming feeling of wanting to do something. It was stupid and Loki was probably going to kill her, but, hey at least it wasn't the worst way to go. "I'm going to do something now, Loki and I kind of need you to just go with it."

She didn't give him a chance to respond as she lunged forward and grabbed Loki into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed with all her might knowing it wasn't going to hurt him. It took him by surprise but a moment later she felt his arms hesitantly wrap around her back. He brought her closer and she felt him rest his chin on the top of her head.

Rome didn't want to ruin the moment by telling Loki that he was extremely cold. She was pretty sure that she was going to get frostbite but, whatever, she was pretty sure this was making him feel better. Hugging Loki was making her wonder how many times he had been hugged in his life. Which was something that she didn't honestly want to think about because it was probably sad as hell.

After about two minutes in this position, Rome felt like it was entering the too awkward for a friendly hug stage. So, she pulled back slowly and let Loki's arm fall to his sides, although she didn't miss the way his hands touched her back. That was not so friendly touch, but she wasn't going to bring it up if he didn't.

Rome looked up at him and gave him a smile. He had changed back into his human looking form and looked more relaxed then he had before. Aww, the power that a hug could do. "Goodbye, Loki." She said not knowing how to say goodbye.

"Goodbye…Rome." He offered.

She smiled one more time then turned around making her way to the door. But before exiting the cell she turned back and to look at Loki one more time. Her heart was beating faster and she couldn't help but feel like maybe something else could happen. That maybe it could be more than just a hug. That maybe, in a different world entirely, this would all be different. Maybe they weren't that different after all.

Maybe.

* * *

Rome picked up her hoagie and groaned as she took a bite into it. She was about halfway down with chewing it when a knock was heard on her office door. Pausing she looked up to see that Thor was there. He was giving her an enthusiastic wave with one hand while the other was holding a white bag. Rome held in a groan and placed her sandwich on its paper. Not being able to find any napkins she quickly wiped her hands on her pants and rushed to open the door.

"Thor!" She exclaimed faux happy tone, "What are you doing here?" she added a nervous chuckle to the end.

"May I come in?" He asked.

Rome gestured for him to do so, "Sure, go right ahead."

Thor walked into her office happily and sat down in one of her chairs. Rome quickly shut her door and made her way over to Thor. He was holding the white bag closely to him like a child would with a Teddy Bear. He tapped it lightly with his fingers and kept smiling at her even as she sat down.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Well, I didn't know how to thank you for your help with Loki. So, I asked Man of Iron for some help he told me that you liked these." He pushed the bag right into her face and Rome carefully took it.

Gently she opened up the bad and peered into it with a curious expression. "Huh." She said looking up at Thor, "You brought me Insomniac Cookies?" She asked.

"Yes, I got a dozen of your favorites." He confirmed excitedly, "Although I had to have Man of Iron to help me since gold is not a direct form of payment here."

Rome chuckled, "No, it's not."

Thor then looked around the room nervously and started to get up from his chair, "Well I suppose I should be off now."

"Thor, you don't have to go." Rome said quickly.

Thor then sat down again in the chair. Reaching into the bad she pulled out a snickerdoodle cookie and handed it to Thor. She motioned for him to try it and he did so with much caution. Then, like a child on Christmas, his face lit up in delight.

"This is delicious." He declared then he gave her a toothy smile, "Do they come in Pop tart flavor?"

Rome just laughed. Yeah, Tony had some weird ass friends but, hey, who can say they had the Norse God of Thunder buy them cookies.

* * *

 ** _So, that's it for the Trial of Loki chapters. I hoped you liked them. No idea when I'll be posting again or what about but just keep a look out for this story. It just updates spontaneously_**


	5. It takes and it takes and it takes

_**I know I said this was going to be mostly stupid stuff. But, I just got this angsty stuff in my head and I needed to let it out so I thought, "Why not give Rome a really tragic backstory." And thus this was born. Sorry in advance.**_

* * *

The first time Rome had ever experienced death was when her Great-Grandmother died. Her father had been devastated but Rome could not say the same for herself. She had only been four at the time and visiting her fathers' side of the family was quite hard to do. It wasn't like her family could hop on a plane and fly down to Jamaica whenever they wanted.

When it happened though, her father bought the first tickets they could find and flew them down there.

The funeral was nice, from what she could remember, but she did not care for it. She hadn't known Great-Grandma Kiyana that well. Really only seen her a handful of times but not remembered the occurrence since she had been so young. All Rome really remembers from that time is seeing her father crying into the casket of her Great-Grandmother. She watched as the rest of her fathers' family mourned with him.

Rome felt like an outsider intruding on a special moment. Not only did she not know the person well, but she did not even know this family that well. Her mother side of the family only lived a short forty-five minutes away from them. Then again her mothers' side of the family was quite different from her fathers'. Her mothers' side of the family all had fair skin and blonde hair. They all had boring clothing and personalities, with the exception of her cousin Roxy, who never knew what to do with each other.

Her fathers' family was different. They all had dark skin, darker than hers, with kinky black hair. That was either pulled into elegant braids or poofed out into its natural state. The women, who said where her aunts, wore beautiful colorful dresses. With yellows, blues, reds, greens, anything that would catch the eyes attention. However, it was only a simple necklace that had caught her eye at her young age.

The woman caught her staring at it. It was someone her father had introduced to her as his younger sister but she did not remember her name. She was beautiful, with her dark skin glowing, her brown eyes shining in the light. Her braided hair was pulled back into an elegant up-do with a colorful flower placed on the side. She was wearing a flowing black dress that almost made it seem like she was floating when she walking. The woman smiled at her and walked over to her, kneeling down to her level and taking her hands into hers.

"I see you were looking at my necklace?" She said and smiled when Rome gave her a sheepish look. The woman then reached around her neck and took the necklace off. She hung it in the air so that Rome could admire the stone more. It was bright and smooth, almost like a star, "This is a moonstone." Her aunt said, "My mother gave it to me. She told me that it was taken from a piece of a fallen star and carved into a single stone." The woman then chuckled, "Of course I didn't believe her but the gesture was still nice."

The woman then took the necklace and placed it around Rome's neck. She was about to protest but her aunt had stopped her. "This of this as a birthday present from your Auntie Naia, yeah? We don't get to see each other that much. I want you to remember me somehow, besides," She said gesturing to the people behind her. "How am I supposed to compete with four other brothers and two sisters?"

Rome shrugged her shoulders not knowing how to respond. "Naia?" Her father said coming forward and scooping her up into his arms, "What are you doing?"

Naia proceeded to get an annoyed look on her face. She waved her hand in the arm as if telling him to let it go. "Don't worry brother, I wasn't trying to corrupt your child, I was merely making up for lost time." Naia then pointed to the necklace around Rome's neck.

Her father gave his sister a confused look, "You gave her GramMa's necklace?" He asked.

Naia lifted a perfect eyebrow, "Well, it wasn't like it was going anywhere." She defended, "Someone needs to have it. Why not start with her?"

"But it meant so much to her…"

"And now she's dead," Naia said bluntly. Her father seemed to become enraged by the statement but Naia seemed unfazed by his growing anger. She actually looked like she was enjoying it. "Calm down Jevaun. She would have wanted it this way." Naia said softly. Rome furrowed her eyebrow; her father's name wasn't Jevaun it was Evan.

Her father whisked her away after that. Rome remembered though, she remembered her Aunt Naia and the small wink she had given her as they left the church.

* * *

The second time Rome experienced death was her father's funeral. She was sixteen when it happened. He had been driving home in the middle of the night from a late shift. Something, that he had been doing more of lately. He had fallen asleep at the wheel swerved into the other lane and crashed into a tree. The crash isn't what killed him though, no, it was the giant bleed in his head that killed him. When she had gotten the call that he had been in an accident Rome rushed over with her mother immediately. When she found his room, she had been relieved to find him seemingly okay. Minus a couple of bruises and cuts, he seemed to be in perfect health.

He was smiling and laughing and telling her that everything was going to be alright. She can still remember the look of pure joy on his face when he saw her and her mother walk in. Then her mother had walked out of the room to get some more coffee leaving her alone with her father.

He had smiled at her and leaned back against the pillows that propped him up. He reached out with his hand and brushed back a piece of her hair. "My beautiful girl." He whispered then cupped her cheek, "No matter how many times I have wronged you, know that you will always be my pride and joy."

Rome frowned, "You acting like this is goodbye?" Rome said with a tearful gaze, "Your fine, Daddy, the doctors said you would be fine."

Her father chuckled then looked down at the necklace that she was wearing. It was still the same one her Aunt Naia had given her so many years ago. He picked it up and admired it, "My GramMa's necklace."

Rome fiddled with the necklace and smiled shyly, "Aunt Naia said that it was made out of a star."

Her father snorted and rolled his eyes, "Of course your Aunt Naia got it wrong." He said more to himself than her. Her father then connected their gazes. Rome stared back into the same eyes she saw in the mirror every single day. "Your Aunt Naia was misinformed." He told her, "The necklace was supposed to represent a star not to be made out of one. It shines no matter how dark the night might be. It supposes to represent the power to bring people together." He then smiled sadly looking back at her, "Do you mind opening the window for me, Rome, it seems to have gotten a bit stuffy in here."

Rome nodded her head and quickly made it over to the window. She struggled with the lock but was eventually able to pry the window open. As soon as she did a gust of air came in and she was surprised by another sound taking over the room. It was a loud fast beeping sound that seemed to be coming from her fathers' heart monitor. Then all of the sudden as she moved forward people came rushing into the room. She watched as doctors and nurses pushed their way by trying to save her father's life.

It wasn't until a nurse saw her did they do anything. She resisted, wanting to keep by his side, but eventually the strong male nurse had won out. They dragged her out of the room and she shouted and sobbed as the reality hit her of what was happening.

Two minutes later, sitting up against a wall knees to her chest, the doctors told her that her father was dead. She didn't listen, it was all white noise to her really, because all she could feel was an emptiness inside of her take place. "I don't understand." She whispered to the doctor, "He was just alive a few minutes ago?"

The doctor sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "He had a bleed in his brain and we didn't catch it in time." The doctor said regretfully, "These things can happen." He then looked down and Rome could tell that he was regretful. That he was being honest and sincere, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry, I'm late!" Her mother shouted while running down the hall with a cup of coffee in hand, "The line was just so…" She trailed off when she noticed the pose of both her and the doctor, "long." She finally finished off.

She then at them once again and Rome saw her mother's lip wobble. Tears spilled out of her eyes and she dropped the coffee cup to the ground. "No!" her mother sobbed while falling to her knees and holding herself, "No!" she cried again.

Rome could never forget that day no matter how many times she wished she had.

* * *

Rome had grown older. She had seen more death and experience more things in her life than one could ever imagine. She had found new friends while she lost the others. She had learned that not everything in the world is permanent and to treasure what you have while it's still with you. Most of all she had learned that you didn't have to do everything alone.

That's how she came to Tony. It was the anniversary of her father's death. She was going to take a day off and go down to visit his grave. This year she had found it exceptionally hard to do it. Previous years it had always been with her mother but right now her mother was currently in England for a work thing. So, she was all alone and she guesses that she shouldn't have been surprised by that fact. It just stung a little more than usual.

She arrived at Tony's loft with her suitcase in hand and tears already brimming. He opened the door and took one look at her. He didn't even hesitate to ask, "What do you need?" he asked.

"My father died ten years ago today." She said weakly, "I want to go down to his grave but I don't think I can do it alone."

Tony nodded his head then grabbed something. He then shut the door and grasped her hand, "Let's go." He said while moving them to the elevator and down to the ground level. Rome looked over to see what he had grabbed and her eyes widened when she saw that it was his car keys. She almost cried, he wanted to drive down to Pennsylvania instead of flying. Which meant he wanted to take his time instead of getting it over with.

* * *

The drive was long. The city soon turned into the countryside. Buildings were replaced by farmland and cows. The didn't talk. Both didn't find the need to. They let the radio fill the silence. She didn't once let go of his hand.

* * *

By the time they arrived at his grave, the sun had just set below the mountains. Rome took a fold-up chair from the back of the car and carried it with her. She set it beside her father's grave and sat down in it watching the moon rise. Tony joined her shortly after, copying her same movements and together they plunged into silence.

Rome took in a deep breath of the air and let it out. She let her tears flow freely and once she opened her eyes again she smiled. Placing a hand on her father's tombstone she swallowed, "You would love it." She said out loud, "This sunset was just so beautiful. The moon is clear and the stars are shining brightly."

She then sniffled and dried her face of the fresh tears that had fallen. There wasn't much else she wanted to say because she didn't know what else to say. How could she explain to her father that she still missed him. That time had not healed her wounds. That she still felt a gaping hole in her heart.

"Your daughter is amazing," Tony said and Rome looked over to him in shock. He gave her a slight smile, "She's has a good work ethic, killer sense of humor, the patience of a saint… and one of the most loyal friends I could have ever asked for." Tony then laid a hand on top of the tombstone as well and looked off at the moon. "She's everything I wish I could be."

Rome smiled and leaned back against her chair. Together as they watched the moon rise higher into the sky. They did not ask each other any other questions. Rome took a deep breath and looked for the different stars her father used to point out to her.

As a slight breeze washed over her and Tony Rome couldn't help but put a hand over her necklace. She felt like her father was there, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezing it. Instinctively she put her hand on her shoulder reaching for the warmth on the other one. Although she did not feel him physically she knew that he was there. He was looking down at her and smiling trying to give her the peace that she craved.

Looking up into the stars Rome smiled, "I wish you were here." She whispered into the sky.

Another breeze came and Rome closed her eyes listening to it.

 _I never left_ it whispered back to her.


	6. Rome Now Has Two Friends

**_Hey, so I have some writer's block and you know what that means! It's time to write for some Chronicles because this is the only thing that helps with my writer's block. Ignore all grammar errors and I own nothing but Rome._**

* * *

It was a well-known fact among all her peers that Rome was not the best at dating. She was a very hard-working woman who had too much to care about instead of dating. It was also the fact that every time she told the man she was going on a date with who she worked for. She would watch as their face crinkled in disgust. They would always reply the same way, " _You work for Tony Stark?"_

Yeah, she worked for Tony Stark. Yeah, she had never slept with him. Guess what men and women can be friends and have complete non-sexual feelings about each other. She had not slept with Tony to get to the top. She yelled in his face and insulted him on a daily basis. That, and they consumed alcohol on a regular basis together and she was pretty sure that they were drinking buddies by now.

So, all and all, Tony is what ruins her dating life. Him, and the sexism of society.

Rome couldn't honestly remember the last time she went on a date. She thinks it was two years ago with some guy named Matt. He was really nice and a lawyer and she couldn't honestly remember why she didn't want a second date. She tilted her head to the side, maybe she should try to find Matt again and ask if he wants to take up that second date. Two years too late.

Looking at her watch, Rome decided that it was time to go to Tony's or, as he called it, The Avengers' Tower. She hated the name, thought it was a little narcissistic but what Tony wants, Tony gets. That or he makes it himself and begs for her and Pepper's forgiveness later.

She found a pair of sandals and threw them on. Taking her dark curly hair and forcing it up in a messy ponytail. Rome looked at herself in the mirror and thought that she looked like a hot mess. She was wearing a Star Wars T-shirt that was three sizes to big. A pair of black yoga pants that had Lord knows how many stains on it. Also, Rome wasn't going to lie here, she hasn't taken a shower in three days. Tony gave her time off to punish her and she was hating every single second of it.

She rushed down her apartment complex stairs and jumped into her car. Driving to the tower was honestly a blank for her. She doesn't really remember all the traffic, she does remember screaming at some old man to move it along. For goodness sake people go with the flow of traffic not back it up.

It was her relief that ten minutes later she was able to make to the Tower. The guard didn't even ask for her name. He took one look at her and opened the gate. She floored into the Tower parking garage and screeched into a parking space. She was surprised that she hadn't hit anyone with her driving. Then again, she does seem to surprise herself more these days.

On a mission to return to work. She got to the elevator and pressed the floor that she thought Tony would be on. She waited patiently by tapping her foot along the floor and morphed her face into something of unpleasantness. When she heard the final ding she rushed out, finger ready scowl on point, to yell at Tony.

Only he wasn't there.

Tony wasn't there but Steve Rogers was and the look of pure panic on his face made her finger fall.

"Steve?" She called out and his face looked up his blue eyes widening, "Are you okay?"

"Rome?" He said in startled surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Rome moved forward so that she was becoming closer to Steve, "I was going to yell at Tony, but you seem to be having more of a crisis." She observed and leaned herself against the counter, "What's wrong?"

He frowned and ran a hand over his tired face, "I have a date." He sighed in expiration, "I don't know how to act."

Rome tilted her head to the side and hit his bicep playfully, "Come on, I bet you got all the ladies back in the day."

He shook his head, "No, that was Bucky." He said.

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad." She said jokingly.

He then sighed and brought out a huge stack of flies slamming them down in front of her. She opened them up and glance at them. She crinkled her nose, "Is this pre-serum you?" He nodded his head and she read down the file. When she flipped through the pages and found his medical file she gasped, "Holy shit!" She exclaimed and looked flabbergasted at Steve, "Steve why did you ever leave the house?"

He groaned and laid his head on his arms that were rested on the table. He mumbled something that she couldn't make out. She could make out what he heard so she took a fist full of his hair and lifted up his head, "What did you say?" She asked again.

"I said, I'm doomed." He proclaimed then leaned back into his chair, "I don't know how to date and now I've only got…" He glanced down at his watch, "Five hours before this one."

Rome set the files down and gave him a look of pity. Then, gaining her courage, she put her hands on her hips and gave him a look of determination. "Well, then, I guess we have five hours to get you ready for this date."

"What?" He asked confused.

She huffed and grabbed his hand dragging him out of the chair, "I'm going to help you with your date. By making you go on a date with me." She stated. Then turned around and put her hands in the air, "Not, like a date date, but like a date that friends do because the other just needs to get out."

"I'm still confused." He said narrowing his eyes as if he was trying to figure out some complex math problem.

Rome just huffed and pointed at him, "Just stand there and be patriotic or something…basically, for now." She then looked down at herself, "Let me go clean up and then we can go." She then sped off to grab a shower and steel some of Tony's clothes hoping that he wouldn't mind. She never kept any of her clothes in the tower. She never honestly had too, but, considering she looked like a slob Rome was starting to reconsider that thought.

In a hurry and a panic. Rome rushed over to a drawer she knew that Pepper kept some of her clothes in. Finding a dress that she thought looked decent. She threw it over her head and took some of Tony's perfume and sprayed it over herself. Look, she didn't have anything on her and she wanted to smell good.

It had taken her a good fifteen minutes but she was ready. She bounded down the stairs and saw that Steve still had not moved. Really, it looked like he had just sat there like a statue waiting for her to come back down.

"Ready?" She asked with her arms out.

"No." He answered honestly and Rome could appreciate that, "But, I'm desperate."

Rome then held up a finger, "Rule number one: Never tell a girl you're desperate. They like men who are confident but not cocky." She then crinkled her nose, "Why aren't you writing that down."

"I don't have a pen and paper."

"Use your phone." She said gesturing to the device that was in his pocket.

"You can do that?" He asked with the wonderment of a smiling child.

Rome groaned and slammed her hand against her forehead, "That's for another day." She whispered to herself.

* * *

She had taken him to a café. It was a nice place that wasn't so public. She had made sure to at least put some sort of disguise on him. By that, she meant that she had put a pair of fake glasses along with a baseball hat. He looked ridiculous…ridiculously adorable. She had picked a both by the back and they sat there in silence.

"So, what's the reason for us being here?" Steve asked.

Rome cleared her throat, "Well, you have no idea where to take a girl on a date. So, let's start here." She gestured the place around them, "This is a perfect place for a first date. The lighting is nice, is casual without being too casual. This place says 'hey, I want to get to know you better, but, I'm not too clingy."

His eyes widened, "You got all that from a café?"

Rome let out a noise of uncertainty, "Plus, this place is cheap."

Steve then gave her a look of thankfulness, "Yeah, that's good. SHIELD doesn't exactly pay well for me."

"I bet, it must be hard, adjusting." Rome said then smiled a little bit, "I mean, the last time you anywhere near where you were in a war. A war that was supposed to end all wars, that was supposed to bring the world together. Then you come back to the world only to see that it's fighting itself." She hadn't meant for it to go that deep. But, it did. She wasn't unaware of how the world was. She knew that it had gotten better than what it had been before. But, then again, the world had also fooled itself into thinking that it was okay.

It was the thing that could make her understand where Loki was coming from. It was the one thing that basically made her feel something other than contempt for him. He saw that people weren't great. That humanity sucked. He was right, of course, but that doesn't mean that they sucked all the time. That was where he was wrong. He thought that humanity was always going to be terrible, but they weren't. Yeah, people sucked, but, they didn't always suck.

"Wow," She said after a moment of silence and gave off a nervous giggle, "I didn't mean for that to get so deep."

"No, it's not a problem." He said then chuckled. "It's just people never really let me talk about what it was like before."

"I'm sure it was different."

"A lot different." He confirmed, "But that doesn't mean that it was better."

"No," She agreed, "But, it was also home. It was familiar and it was safe." There was a beat of silence and Rome could feel the awkward tension build in the air. "Anyway." She said elongating the word, "How about, when you're on your date, you refrain from talking about the forties."

Steve shook his head in agreement, "No, forties talk got it." He then gave her a look of confusion, "What should I talk about?"

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Let her do most of the talking in the beginning but still engage her in conversation. Keep the topics around stuff that she mostly likes."

"Got it."

"Maybe also refrain from talking about SHIELD and or anything to do with SHIELD. I know dating a spy sounds cool and all. But, in the end, it's actually boring as all hell."

"But, I'm not a spy."

"No, you're Captain America." She said pointing a finger at him and taking a sip of her drink. She then slammed it down onto the table, "Which means you have an advantage and a disadvantage."

"What are those?"

"Downside: You have a reputation for saving the world from Aliens, which gives her unrealistic expectations. Upside: You can totally exploit that reputation."

Steve scrunched his face up and he looked as if someone had given him spoiled milk, "I don't want to exploit that."

Rome stared at him blankly then shook her head. She had forgotten who she was talking to for a moment. Sometimes, she was pretty sure she just heard Tony in her head. Like, seriously, at this point Rome was pretty sure that Tony had somehow just… integrated himself into her brain. She couldn't tell if she was okay with that or not. If she had to guess, she was okay with it.

"Sorry, I forget you're Steve Rogers and you practically ooze chivalry." She then sighed and clasped her hands on the table, "So, Steve, let's talk about feminism."

Steve then grabbed his pen and paper looking ready for school.

* * *

Rome wasn't sure why, but, she was positive that she was more nervous about this date than Steve had been. They had spent hours going over different topics to talk about. What to do what not to do. Hell, she had gotten so invested in his date that she even made him notecards in case he got lost. All in all, Rome felt like she was on this date more than Steve.

God, she needed to stop living out her love life through Captain America. Tony had created a tinder account on her behalf. Apparently, he felt the need that, as a joke, she needed to get laid. When she had found this out she promptly screamed at him and chucked his phone against the wall.

However, when Pepper found out, she made him sleep on the couch for a week. Then made him write an apology letter, by hand, as to why it was wrong of him to do that.

Sometimes, Rome truly does wonder if she's raising Tony even though he's almost half her senior. It wouldn't be too off. Because, well, she knew that his earlier life had been shit. His parents had been killed in a car crash. But, let's be honest here, anyone who was close to Tony knew that Howard Stark was right behind Odin when it came to parenting. Sometimes, Rome likes to think what Howard would have been like. She likes to think that the Starks would have invited her over for Thanksgiving and Christmas because Tony had insisted. If maybe Tony had been given the care he needed as a child he would have already been married to Pepper with at least three kids.

Yet, here he was. Almost forty-five just got together with Pepper. His only friends being Rhodey, his bodyguard Happy, her, and a fucking AI named JARVIS. Jesus, she needed to get Tony into therapy ASAP. She could persuade him somehow or trick him into doing couple therapy with her. Although, she could see where that could go wrong. Never mind couples therapy was out of the question.

A clanging noise is what brought her out her train of thought. She jumped about two feet into the air and put a hand over her heart. She whipped around to see a guilty looking Bruce Banner standing there with a couple of boxes lying around him. In his arms what a box of Lucky Charms and he smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry," He mumbled with his mouth full of cereal, "I got hungry."

Rome gently put her hand down from her chest and smiled kindly back at him. She liked Bruce Banner. He was that person that Tony would go to when he wanted to science out about something. Rome was secretly thankful that Tony now had someone who spoke his own language. Although, she was pretty sure that Banner did not always feel the same way. It had been nearly a year since Bruce had practically moved into Stark Tower. Rome had some run-ins with him but for the most part, he kept his distance from her. Although, she was pretty sure he kept his distance from everyone because of the Big Green Alter Ego of his.

"It's fine." Rome said and waved him off, "It's not like you stopped me from doing anything important." Bruce gave a nervous chuckle as if he was unsure whether or not to laugh. Rome caulked an eyebrow and smirked, "You were meant to laugh at that." She told him.

"Sorry, it's just…sometimes, I have trouble…" He then trailed off his eyes looking anywhere but hers. He then wiped his hands on his pants and Rome could see the crumbles over Lucky Charms there.

Rome then looked at him curiously and began walking towards him slowly, "What are you doing? I never usually see you in the kitchen this early." Her eyes then roamed over to the microwave clock that told her it was five o'clock. It was true. Ever time she was in the tower to eat take out with Tony Bruce always seemed occupied with something else. She had offered him dinner every time she came over. She thought she was being polite but, then again, it could come off like she was pitting him.

She then watched as Bruce became flustered and lifted up the cereal. "Oh, uh, I got hungry and Tony wasn't here to order for me. His system is super confusing and JARVIS would do it for me so, I just came in here to see what he had."

Rome took a deep sigh and placed her hands on her hips. He was telling the truth, that much she could tell, but there was something off about it. Like, it wasn't the only reason that he was there for. Then, Rome got an alert on her phone and she looked down to see that Steve was on the move. She grinned instantly and did a little hop. Thank God, that Steve wasn't aware she had put Find-My-Friend app on his phone.

Was it creepy that she was tracking his every move with his date? Probably, but did she care. Not really.

Biting her lip, she zoomed in to find that Steve was still walking the exact route she had told him too. "What's that?" Bruce asked and Rome looked up surprised to see that he was still there.

She grinned and waved her phone in his face, "I've been tracking Steve. He had a date and I helped him out with it earlier. Don't tell him but, I might have placed a tracking app on his phone."

Bruce then smirked, "You're tracking Steve's movements on his date?" He asked then pointed a finger at him.

Rome glared playfully at him, "Oh, please, I had to do three practice runs with him. The man may look like a beefcake but has all the confidence of a pre-pubescent teenager." She then watched her phone as he kept along the pathway to the café. Getting an idea, she glances back up at Bruce who had put his hand back into the cereal box and began to eat from it.

He saw the look on her face and deflated, "I don't like that look on your face." He said to her, "It reminds me of Tony when he wanted to me to do something."

Rome waved off the comment and looked towards Bruce, "Say, how do you feel about getting some coffee or tea with me?" She asked. She watched as his expression of panic turned into one of shock. Rome then walked over and threw her arm around Bruce's shoulder. Although, it was kind of hard since he was a good bit taller than her. That was the good thing about Tony, he might have a big ego but boy was he short.

"I mean," Rome said, "It's the least I can do since we never get any time to actually chat."

She then started to drag him towards the door and Bruce clung to the box of cereal like a lifeline, "We were chatting just a few seconds ago. I thought we were actually having a nice conversation."

Rome plunked the box of cereal from his hands and threw it over her shoulder, "Oh, we were, but how about we continue this conversation somewhere else?" She then opened the elevator and had to practically push Bruce though it. "Don't worry, Bruce. We're gonna have a great time."

* * *

She had seated them in the back corner. A newspaper was covering her face and Bruce was carefully sipping his tea making sure to keep his head ducked. She had the time to force Bruce into a pair of Tony's sunglasses along with a fedora. He absolutely hated it but Rome thought he looked cute in it. He looked like a slightly humbler version of Tony. Those two really were made for each other.

Rome could see that Steve's date was laughing at something he just said. She leaned forward and looking into his eyes. She had taken a piece of her soft brown hair and began to twist it with her finger. Rome wanted to pump her fist into the air. All their work was paying off and this girl looked totally into Steve. The girl then glanced over her way and Rome made sure to put the newspaper up higher.

She heard a light laugh and Rome turned back to Bruce, "You look ridiculous." He told her.

Rome glared at him, "Well, I just want to make sure all my hard work won't go to waste."

Bruce then gave her a curious glance. He was looking at her like he was trying to figure something out. It got to the point where Rome couldn't take it anymore. "What?" She asked him, "Is there something on my face." It was meant as a joking question but she was always very aware of what could possibly be on her face.

"No." Bruce then shook his head and place his elbows on the table and leaned forward, "it's just, why are so invested in this."

Rome shrugged her shoulders and looked back to Steve, "I don't know." She told him, "I just spent a lot of time with him. I want to make sure he doesn't screw this up." She said it like she was honestly talking about herself, "I mean, he's never really been on a date before. I just want to make sure he knows what he's doing."

Rome then felt a hand on hers and she looked back to see that Bruce had placed it there. "Rome, I think Steve will be fine." She didn't say anything about the hand. Didn't make any move to move hers or his. "Why did you come over to Tower?" Bruce finally asked.

"I came to yell at Tony to let me come back to work."

Bruce then crinkled his brow and pulled his hand back. "Rome, you've only been on vacation for a week."

She then groaned and leaned back into the chair crossing her arms across her chest. "I know." She admitted, "It's just…I'm going insane not doing anything. I feel like when I do nothing I just get nothing accomplished and I feel so unfulfilled."

Bruce then gave her an odd look and stood up. Rome then motioned for him to sit back down but he completely ignored her. He reached his hand out and was waiting for her to take it. Rome glance over to Steve to see that he too was laughing and a sinking feeling came to her stomach. Steve was going to be okay. He didn't need her help anymore. Sighing in defeat, she grabbed Bruce's hand and together they walked out the back door of the café.

Once they were a block away Rome finally asked the question, "Where are we going?"

Bruce shrugged his shoulders and placed his hands in his jacket pockets, "I don't know, I just thought we would just walk around for a bit."

And walk they did. She couldn't tell how long they had actually been walking for but it was long enough for them to witness the sunset. They had ended by a dock and they both sat down on wooden dock swinging their legs back and forth. Watching as the sunset and the sky flashed with vibrant colors. It was a perfect end to a mediocre day.

"Hey," Rome said softly and looked over to Bruce, "Can I ask you something?"

Bruce leaned back on his hands, "Sure."

"The Other Guy. Is it emotion based or is it heart rate based."

Bruce then became deep in thought. He looked out to the ocean and pursed his lips, "It's more heart rate based. But, sometimes I can control when he comes out." He then looked over to her, "Why?"

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "I was just wondering. I mean, if its emotion based that means you can basically control every time he comes out. If its heart rate based, then, you're screwed."

Bruce nodded in agreement, "Yeah, probably."

Then it was silence again. Sighing, Rome let her back hit the deck and she was now staring up at the sky. It had only gotten slightly colder, not enough to warrant a jacket, but enough to make your skin shiver. She closed her eyes and thought about what her mom would be doing.

She would probably be doing some sort of school project for the children. They hadn't talked in a while. In fact, Rome was pretty sure they hadn't talked ever since Rome had come back from Asgard and that had been almost six months ago. She wanted to think about Roxie but she didn't allow herself. That memory was still too painful.

It was sad to think but those were the only two people Rome could think of. She didn't really have any other friends other than Tony. She knew that she had people she would talk to occasionally or go out with for drinks. But, overall, Tony dominated her friend group.

"Hey, Bruce?" She called out with her eyes still closed and hand clasped over her stomach. She heard Bruce hum in response and she could see him there in her mind. He was leaning back on his hands with his eyes closed as he took up the setting sun. "Did we just become friends?" she asked.

There was a pregnant pause and then she heard his answer, "I think so."

"Cool." She said and then smiled to herself as her friend group grew by one, "That's cool."


	7. A Prank Turns Into A Pen Pal

_**Can't explain it but I just had to write Rome and Loki as pen pals.**_

* * *

In her defense, the letter and gifts had started out as a joke. She had been having a sleepover with Tony. They had built a mini pillow fort and were watching _Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets_ when he brought it up. She had been munching on some popcorn, Tony slurping a milkshake obnoxiously right beside her. In the middle of the forest scene, Tony had turned to her and said, "I bet Reindeer Games would love those books."

Rome had frowned and turned to look at him. They had been lying on their stomachs with their arms resting on the pillows in front of them. In all honesty, they looked like a pair of five-year-old kids. "What?" She asked in confusion.

Tony had taken the curly straw away from his lips, "Loki, I bet he would like the Harry Potter series."

"What made you think of that?" Rome asked curiously.

Tony turned back to the T.V. and shrugged, "I don't know." He replied, "Just popped into my mind."

Rome hummed and went back to watching the movie.

She hadn't really thought more about until three weeks later when Thor had come to visit. He said that he had come to Earth because Jane needed his help. She honestly thought that might have been a code word for 'Jane called me for a late-night booty call'. She had no idea though. Rome was kind of confused by that whole relationship and how it worked.

His visit had made her think back to Tony's comment though. Smiling to herself she thought it would be a funny joke. Send the Harry Potter book to Loki and tell him that this is what we think wizards are like. She could see his offended look on his face already. Happy with the thought, she rushed down to the nearest Barns & Noble and bought the first book. Shrugging she placed it into the crook of her arm. It was like he was actually going to like these.

Which lead her the first letter. She thought it would be weird if she just shoved the book into Thor's hands. Then tell him to give it to his brother and no other explanation. So, she had sat down at her desk with a piece of paper and her favorite pen. Not surprisingly she found it difficult to write. What would she even say to him? Shaking her head, she forced herself to write.

 _Dear Loki,_

 _Was thinking about how much it must suck to be in a prison cell constantly. So, I bought you this book. I hope you enjoy it, it's about the tails of a young boy who learns that he's a wizard. I think you might be able to get something out of it. I know that I have. This brought me so much joy as a child. It brought me hope in the darkest of times. Hope this can help ease the pain._

 _Best Wishes,_

 _Rome Matthews_

Rome scoffed and crinkled up the paper throwing it to the side. That was way too needy and personal. Loki didn't need to know that she was thinking about him. Lord, knows that would probably just boost his ego and make him think that she was always thinking about him. Which she was not.

Sighing, she grabbed another piece of paper and began.

 _Loki,_

 _Heard you were bored, so here's a_ book.

 _-Rome_

Shaking her head in disappointment Rome glared at the paper. Okay, maybe that was a little too apathetic. She needed something that let him know she wasn't constantly thinking about him. Rather, Thor had brought him up in conversation and she felt some pity for him. Grabbing another piece of paper, she started again.

 _Loki,_

 _Thor mentioned how bored you were and I thought you might enjoy this. I hope you get much enjoyment out of it just as I have. I can't imagine the entertainment in Asgardian prison is any good._

 _Best of_ luck,

 _Rome_

Smiling to herself, Rome folded the letter and placed it in an envelope. She was proud of the letter. It felt right. She thought it was the perfect amount of friendly and concerned along with only mild curiosity. Slipping the letter into the book between the cover and the first page, Tony could never find out. Rome smiled and left her office. She had a God of Thunder to find after all.

* * *

She hadn't expected a letter back. But, two weeks later, Thor came back with a grin on his face and letter in his hand. Rome had been sitting on the couch doing work in her pajamas when Thor bowed to her and handed her the letter. "Lady Rome." He said teasingly.

Rome had frowned and took the letter gingerly from his hands. With great caution, she opened the beautifully sealed envelope. To her great surprise she pulled out a letter and her eyes widened. The bastard had written back. Her jaw hitting the floor, she opened the letter and read its contents.

 _Rome,_

 _Is this how Midgardians see us magic wielders and sorcerers? If so, then you have much to learn. Also, if you could, do please send the rest of the books to me._ Although I _am quite offended by how the book depicts wizards, you were right. I did enjoy the book and found some joy. Thank you for bringing me some much-needed entertainment. You are right in assuming Asgardian prison is boring and dull._

 _Regards,_

 _Prince Loki Odinson Laufeyson of Asgard_

Except he had crossed out Odinson.

Her mouth, if even possible, had fallen open even more. She looked up at Thor in shock. She saw that a wide smile had spread across his face. Rome then gulped, "Is this real?" She asked softly waving the letter in front of his face.

Thor chuckled and nodded his head, "I believe it is, Lady Rome. I was there when he was writing it." He then shook his head and lifted an eyebrow, "It seems that my brother has taken a liking to you and your books."

Rome then felt butterflies in her stomach as she stared down at the letter, "I guess I have to go Barns & Noble now." She then gulped and put a hand over her heart. Well, she hadn't expected this. What had started off as a prank/dare. Was now turning into an actual real thing. The one thought that baffled her most?

Loki was now her pen pal.

* * *

 _Dear Loki,_

 _Here's the second book. I'm glad that you're liking the series. Although, I wouldn't say that this is how most people view sorcerers. This is a series meant for children. Sorry for the lack of entertainment. If I had known that you were going to get so bored. I would have tried arguing with your father for some sort of entertainment._

 _All the best,_

 _Rome_

* * *

 _Dear Rome,_

 _If I had known that you were actually as good as you were. Then I would have asked so much more of you. When I had first met you, I thought you nothing more than just a simple mortal. It seems that you have somehow proven me wrong. I wouldn't mind if you kept doing so. If you could, please send the next book._

 _Best,_

 _Prince Loki Odinson Laufeyson of Asgard._

This time he had crossed out both Odinson and Laufeyson on the letter.

* * *

 _Loki,_

 _Thanks. I've always loved proving people wrong. I consider it a great talent of mine. As for first impressions. I thought that you had a been a very sleep deprived college student. If it hadn't been for the clothes or the hair, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference._

 _Also, here's the next book. This one is my favorite out of the whole series._

 _Best Wishes,_

 _Rome_

It had gone on for weeks. There letters back in forth. It got to the point where she almost saw Thor on a bi-weekly basis. The letters had become something that she actually looked forward too. It was more than a prank or a joke. She really did enjoy writing to Loki and talking to him and it seemed that he shared the same feelings. Soon, after he had finished the Harry Potter series, it seemed that letters still came and they still talked.

Thor had gotten so tired from exchanging the letters that they had set up a mailing system. Rome didn't know how it worked, didn't want to know how it worked. All she knew is that every time she wanted to send a letter to Loki. All she had to do was plop it in a special box and then it would magically disappear. She guessed it was a two-way thing, because days later a letter would arrive in the box.

It wasn't until the thirtieth letter did somebody else realize that she was talking to him. And of course that somebody had to be Tony.

Rome had been reading the latest letter in her hand when Tony started questioning her about it. "So," He had said, "Who's this letter from, your secret admirer?" He had said it jokingly but still; the comment made her blush. That action made Tony perk up as he leaned forward trying to get a better look at the letter. Rome had quickly snatched it away from his gaze.

"Isn't there somebody else you can bother? Where's Bruce, he usually your go to person."

Tony shrugged and made his way around the counter, "Your boyfriend is avoiding me. Plus, I feel like I've been neglecting on _us_ time." He said gesturing between them with his index finger.

Rome rolled her eyes. Ever since he had found out that her and Bruce went to go get coffee and spy on Steve. He had not let it go and had since been calling Bruce her boyfriend. She, of course, didn't care because she knew that Tony wasn't being serious about it. But, Bruce, oh poor Bruce. The man practically turned into a tomato anytime Tony brought it up or called him that. It led to him actively avoiding hanging out with them at the same time.

"You should really stop calling him that, you know it makes him uncomfortable." Rome said as she leaned against the counter.

Tony gave a half-offended scoff and jumped up onto the counter, successfully sitting on it. "Come on, Romulus, I'm just teasing him. Plus, making him uncomfortable is half the fun of it."

She gave him a small glare, "You do realize that the Hulk destroyed half of Harlem, right? And during the Battle of New York, he knocked down both Thor and Loki."

Tony waved her off, "Yeah, well, I like to think that he likes me too much to kill me."

"You hold a lot of faith in him." She muttered to herself.

Tony rolled his eyes and peered over her shoulder to look at the letter. She was too late it and seconds later the paper was being snatched from her hands. She turned towards him in anger and tried reaching for the letter. But, Tony had already jumped down from the counter and was running forward the reading the contents of the letter out loud.

" _Rome, it pleases me to here that you are having such a nice week on Midgard. I can't say the same for myself. As you know it gets quite boring up here. I have to say that are letters are the only real joy that I have looking forward to. Although, it would be nice to actually talk to you in person again. Perhaps we can watch those movies you talked so fondly about. Best, Loki."_

Tony had read the letter in a faux British Accent but once he read who is was from his face turned white. He looked up at her his eyes wide in both horror and confusion. Finally, after ten pain staking seconds Tony had opened his mouth. "Reindeer Games!" He cried in horror while shaking the letter, "Your secret admirer is Reindeer Games?!"

Rome frowned and walked over to Tony snatching the letter from his grasp, "He's not my secret admirer. He's just lonely and when I went to Asgard for his trial I sort of… befriended him."

"Befriended him? Rome, the guy had you under mind control."

Rome rolled her eyes and walked over to the kitchen area to grab a glass of water, "It wasn't even an hour. Besides, it's not like he actually did anything too me in particular."

"Rome, he killed people."

"I know, Tony. It's just…you didn't see him the way I saw him or got to know him like I did."

Tony held out his arms in front of him widely, "You were there for barely a day. Six hours at the most."

Rome held her nose up in the air, "Yeah, well, a lot happened in those six hours."

"Obviously." Tony scoffed as he sat down on the counter. He then put a hand to his cheek and stared at her, "You're not in love with him, are you?" He asked seriously.

Rome chocked on the water she had been drinking. The water spilling out both of her nose and mouth. She had set the glass down and coughed until there were tears in her eyes. She then looked to Tony with wide eyes.

The man only frown, "You know, that reaction doesn't make me feel any better."

Rome wiped her mouth, "What gave you the idea that I was in love with him?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. It just…the way the letter was written, in seems like he has a thing for you."

"Tony, I don't just fall in love with someone in six hours."

Tony then let out a big sigh, "I don't know man, it only took Jane Foster three days to fall for Thor."

She then took a small sip of her water. Another thought popped up and she pointed a finger towards the over grown man child, "And why would Loki be into me of all people? He's a literal god. I'm just a person that works for you. I'm practically nothing compared to him. I mean, it's not like I have an amazing personality and my body is just…meh."

Tony gave her a look that she couldn't quite describe, "Are you kidding me?" He asked and she tilted her head while frowning at his statement. "Rome, you're freaking gorgeous." He said and she blushed, "If I wasn't spoken for and you weren't my friend I would have totally tried to sleep with you by now."

"Yeah, right."

"I mean it. I think you are absolutely gorgeous and anybody could see that. Even Reindeer Games."

Rome was about to fire back but then she thought about their parting hug. She wouldn't be lying if she hadn't thought about it. She had feelings for Loki she just wasn't sure what type of feelings they were. Their parting hug that she had thought lasted too long. Some of the glances that he had given her. The brushing of his hand on her lower back. It was crazy to think about but there was no way they would work out. But still…

Just then, Rome heard a door shut and she watched as Bruce came walking into the room. Dressed in his usual attire he looked up and stopped mid-step once he saw that both Tony and she were in the room. Rome looked towards Tony and saw a Cheshire grin grow onto his face.

"Perfect timing, Brucie." He said getting up to lead Bruce towards the kitchen more, "I was just telling Rome here how beautiful she was. Want to give her any input?"

Rome crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Tony, "Stop it." She scolded him.

Bruce ducked his head and stared at the ground. His cheeks and neck starting to become a bright red, "No. I-I think I'm good."

Tony then wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "Come on, Bruce. Not even one compliment?" Tony taunted him.

Rome shook her head and made her way over to them. Putting a comforting hand on Bruce's shoulder, "You don't have to say anything, Bruce." She then pocketed her letter, "Besides, I have somewhere to be."

Rome began walking off and heard Tony yelling behind her, "Tell Reindeer Games I said hi."

She smirked, "Oh, I'll do more than that!" She hollered back intending for the euphemism to come through. Look, she wasn't going to lie, she knew that Loki was good looking. In both his regular form and his Blue Man group form. She also wasn't going to lie and say that she hadn't had any weird fantasies about Loki. Because, she had, she had a few of those dreams but she was never going to tell Tony that.

That would give him too much ammunition.


	8. Molly Ringwald Would Be Proud

**_Because everyone deserves a Cinderella moment..._**

* * *

Fun fact about Rome Matthews. She's never been to prom in her entire life which, apparently, is a fucking travesty according to Tony. The whole conversation had come up when they were all watching a Molly Ringwald movie. Tony had said that his prom was nothing like that and he began asking the rest of the Avengers what their proms were like.

Rome was guessing this the only time that Tony was going to be the odd one out. Because none of the other Avengers had ever gone to prom. Although, the rest of them had pretty good excuses compared to her. She had just been too poor and depressed to go to prom. Bruce had stated that he didn't care about prom and he wasn't asked either. Natasha was an assassin, Clint was in the circus, Steve was too busy trying not to die from all his ailments, and Thor, well, Rome's been to Asgard and she's pretty sure they didn't have a prom there.

Which came to Tony's brilliant idea of throwing a prom. Sure, it could also be seen as a PR stunt but Rome knew that Tony wanted to throw a prom because he could. Out of all of them, Tony was the only one to have a relatively normal high school experience. Okay, maybe she and Bruce had more of a normal time than Tony. Still, Tony was the only one who had attended a prom and to him, that was a problem.

Actually, she should make a point that it was a surprise prom. In fact, it was such a surprise that Rome hadn't learned about it until she was about to walk through the doors.

She and Tony stopped at the doors to the main Avenger common area when he finally spilled the beans and told her about it. Rome should have known that something was wrong from the moment Tony had told her that she needed to wear a fancy dress.

When she had opened up the door and saw everyone is beautiful dresses and tuxes. She had turned to Tony and gave him a look of surprise to which he merely shrugged and held out his arm for her to take. Rome took a nervous breath and stared at all the people ahead. Glancing back at Tony, she grabbed all of her courage and linked her arms through his. Tony smiled and squeezed her hand in reassurance and smiled proudly as he escorted them into the room.

He had truly gone all out for this prom. As Rome looked around in wonder, she saw that there were twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling. Flowers of all different kinds were in clusters all around the room on different tables. A buffet table was placed in the corner along with an open bar that seemed to house many people. Rome felt a fluttering in her chest and couldn't help the smile that graced her face. Small tears had formed in the corner of her eyes.

"You did all of this for me?" She asked turning towards him.

Tony smiled, a real genuine smile, his eyes lit up as he saw the look on her face. "You like it?" He asked.

Rome laughed, "I love it!" She exclaimed, "But, why try so hard?"

Tony grabbed her shoulders and brought her in closer, "Because everyone deserves to be Cinderella for one night." He then swallowed thickly and brushed a piece of her loose hair back, "Because you deserve it, Rome. I will never be able to state how thankful I am for you so…" He rolled his eyes, "I guess I'm stuck showing you."

Rome had no words to say. Although he hadn't said it Rome got the implication of what he meant. In his own way, Tony was saying he was proud of her. Boy, it had been a long time since she had ever heard those words uttered to her. For as long as she could remember it had been just herself who believed in her. Her mother, bless her, tried but she never could fully back what Rome wanted to do. Her father loved her but his fear of his own family held him back. She could think of two times that he had said that he was proud of her. Both times she had done something that she hadn't wanted to do.

That was the complicated thing about her family growing up. She had been too different from what her parents wanted. She was ambitious, she craved to travel and see the world, to constantly keep moving and to keep going forward. Her parents wanted her to stay where she was in a small town that could barely be found on a map. Marry some small-town boy and maybe become some sort of teacher or daycare worker. She tried her hardest to appease her parents and make them happy, she tried to force that life down. Rome always ended up spitting it back out because it never felt right, it always left her wanting more.

Rome then saw Tony looking over her shoulder and he grinned. "Oh, by the way," He said mischievously putting a finger to his chin and tapping it. "There's one more surprise for you tonight. It was a little hard to track down, but I eventually found it."

"Oh, God, what now Tony?" She asked rhetorically as she turned around waiting for whatever ridiculous surprise there was.

Only, as she turned around, it was nothing stupid or ridiculous. It was something that made her heart stop and then flutter a thousand times against her head. Her eyes let out small tears as she stared at the person it front of her. Nothing could ever top the joy she was feeling right now as she stared at the person in front of her. Thinking to Hell with all the other people around her, Rome took this moment to enjoy as she leaped forward. She found herself in the embraces of her cousin Roxanne or better known as Roxie.

She buried her head into her cousin's chest and smiled/cried as she held her close. Roxie laughed and hugged her close as well. "I'm not gonna lie here, I thought you were going to pass out when you saw me?"

Rome pulled back and looked at her cousin in disbelief, "How are you here?" She asked looking at her up and down, "I thought you were still on the run after…" Rome trailed off.

Roxie lifted an eyebrow. "You mean after I left the country because I let out national secrets to the public?" She said finishing Rome's sentence. Roxie merely shrugged her shoulders, "My time as a criminal is over, the job got boring anyway. When Rich Bitch over there found me, I had been working as a fisherman in Norway."

"Fisherman?"

"I like _Deadliest Catch,_ sue me." She said casually, "Besides, we finally get to go to each other's proms!" She ended excitedly.

Rome laughed and shook her head, "You risked your own safety for me?"

"Hey," Roxie said playfully as she swatted her shoulder, "You've done way more for me."

They stood there for a moment before Roxie took a look around. "Well, I don't know about you but let's get this party started!" She then pumped her fist into the air and rushed off towards the bar. Her bright red dress shined through the darkness of the room. Even in a group of people Roxie still seemed to stand out.

Everyone in the room had come with muted or dark-colored clothing. Rome herself chose a dark blue dress. Everyone else had on long gowns with elegant hair and makeup, but Roxie, she always had to outdo everyone. She stood alone in a short puffy red dress. Her light blonde hair that she shared with the rest of her family was down in a wavy mess. It had grown longer since the last time they had seen each other, then again, that had been years ago.

Rome laughed softly and turned to see who else had come. Natasha was talking to Clint about something. Tony had found his way to Pepper and the two were dancing quite erratically. Thor seemed to be adamantly listening to something that Bruce was explaining to him. Then Steve was in the corner looking around nervously at all the other people. He was clutching the drink so close to himself she thought the glass might break.

Taking pity on him she walked over to him making sure the grab a drink for herself as she went. "Hey," She said softly, hoping not to scare him. "You look kind of nervous."

Steve gave her a guilty look, "Is it that obvious?"

Rome held up her index finger and thumb creating a small space in between. "Little bit," She said while giving him a wide smile, "Don't worry though, you aren't the only one who's nervous." She then gestured to the whole room, "I've never been to a prom before too."

Steve nodded his head lightly, "Is it always like this?" He asked while tilting his head to the side.

Rome chuckled, "No, probably not, Tony went all out for this," She then looked around the room again. Admiring all the different decorations, "But the concept is all the same."

Steve smiled and took a sip from his glass. There stood in silence as the music boomed around them. Rome's heart began to race and she could feel her anxiety levels starting to rise. She was unaware of what to do next. Hell, she didn't even know what to say next, she had never been in this type of situation before.

"Do you want to dance?" Rome blurted out startling Steve only slightly.

His gaze turned back to her and he blinked a couple of times. He then grinned shyly, "I don't really know how," He confessed as he looked down at his shoes, "I never learned how."

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "Neither have I," She said and his eyes snapped back to hers. Rome held out a hand to him, "But I'm sure we can figure it out."

Steve glanced down at her hand for a moment. He stared at his with great contemplation before setting aside his drink and grasping it tightly. Rome smiled widely and practically dragged Steve into the middle of the dance floor. She let go his hands and began moving her shoulders back and forth, softly trying to encourage Steve to do the same.

His moves at first were awkward, so were hers, but eventually, they both found a rhythm. Rome laughed in joy and moved closer to Steve. She watched as Steve smiled as he grasped her one hand forcing her to spin. It caught her by surprise but she wasn't mad about it, Steve was enjoying himself and if this helped then so be it. As she came back from the spin, he caught her other hand and together they began to sway from one side to the other.

It oddly reminded her of the dance that Harry and Hermione shared in the _Deathly Hallows: Part One._ There was no skill or coordination to their dance, it was just two friends having fun at prom. Rome spared a glance around her and saw that everyone else was having fun as well. All of them were smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves.

It was one of those few rare moments where Rome felt like time had slowed down. Like the world was at peace for once and they could all relax. It was a moment that she knew she would remember forever. It was a moment like this that was worth all the pain and hardships they endured.

She looked off to the side and saw Roxie standing at the edge of the dance floor. She was watching her with a smile and a sad look in her eyes. Rome watched as Roxie lifted her champagne flute into the air and nodded her head in acknowledgment. Rome smirked and nodded back to her while shrugging her shoulders slightly. What was else was she supposed to do, brood in the corner?

Turning her attention back to Steve and proceeded to teach him the moves to the _Macarena_.


	9. Pizza Will Love You Forever

Despite what the media tried to tell people, Rome and Pepper Potts did not hate each other. In fact, it was quite the opposite, they absolutely adored each other. She could understand why the gossip magazines reported that they disliked each other. She and Tony were always hanging out together, eating out together, and she often was photographed coming out of his house after spending the night. It was always the same: she was either sleeping with Tony, which caused strain on their relationship or they pit Rome and Pepper against each other like fighting dogs.

Then there was that one picture when they were standing next to each other both looking angry. Only, that picture was taken out of context. Pepper looked angry because her period cramps were painful and Rome, well, that was just her face. She was unfortunately born with Resting Bitch Face, although it wasn't as bad as Clint's, it always made her look bad in photos.

The two of them were very close, Pepper was one of her only female friends. Pepper was also the one who encouraged both Tony and Rome in their sleepovers. Pepper would often be apart of these sleepovers, in fact, she was an active part of them. She was the one that would always paint their nails and buy the face masks. The only reason they were never seen together outside of the Tower is that of work. Both are very busy people and they both found it hard to find time to spend together.

Then came Natasha Romanoff.

For being a deadly assassin turned spy, she had quite the sense of humor and. Rome guessed one would need one to compensate with the horrible stuff that came with being a spy. Which kind of scared Rome considering how blasé Natasha was about a lot of things. Although Rome had never gotten the full back story, she knew that it wasn't a pretty one. Sometimes she wonders how Natasha was able to integrate herself so flawlessly into another environment.

Actually, now that she thought about it, it could be that Natasha never fully got over her trauma and just got really good at lying. Rome shivered and tried to shake the thought from her head. Natasha psyche was not something she wanted to think about.

Moving on she thought of another thing that was interesting about Natasha Romanoff, was that she had an abnormal amount of free time. Whenever Rome came over, which was quite frequent, Natasha was always doing something different. There was the one time she was painting, another she was playing video games, and even she's pretty sure that she saw Natasha try to learn how to skateboard. Rome also swears she saw the Avenger knitting the one time, nobody believes her, even if Natasha denies it Rome knows that it still happened. The moral of the story: Natasha has a lot of free time and spends it doing different activities.

Which lead Rome to here. She wanted to do something with Pepper and Natasha just happened to be close by when she proposed the idea. Pepper was standing in front of her with an unsure look on her face, "You want us to do what again?" She asked right after Rome had explained her idea.

Rome sighed, "Look," She said putting an arm out in front of her, "All I'm saying is that we never get to spend any time together."

Pepper narrowed her eyes and slowly pointed a finger at the flyer Rome was holding, "And you think that doing this will help?"

Rome shrugged her shoulders, "I don't think it will hurt," She then turned her gaze towards Natasha, "You in?"

Natasha got walked closer and took the flyer from Rome. She examined it closely and narrowed her blue eyes at the paper. It looked like she was trying to decipher some secret code or hidden message from it. Which Rome would find hard considering it was mostly just a picture with five words above it. After a few seconds of silence, she looked back up at Rome. "I'm in," She said with indifference.

Rome let out a small noise of joy and pumped her fist in the air. She then turned back to Pepper and gave her a pleading look. She held the flyer close to her and started silently chanting the word, please. She could actually see the moment Pepper gave in, "Fine," She said finally giving in, "I'll go with you guys, I guess I could use the time off."

Rome smiled widely, fucking finally.

* * *

"I haven't seen these many college girls since Tony's fortieth birthday party," Pepper mumbled as she peered around the room. Surrounding them were a bunch of girls, none of them being any older than twenty-two.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders, "Kind of makes us stick out," She said looked around the room taking everything in.

Rome got in front of the two women and clapped her hands, "Alright, guys," She said gesturing to them with their arms, "We are here to do hot yoga. Who cares if all of the other girls are practically infants?"

Pepper adjusted the yoga mat in her arm, "I don't know, Rome," She said uncomfortably, "It just makes me feel really old looking at all these girls."

"Makes me think about when I was trained to fight in the Red Room," Natasha said offhandedly as her gave shifted from girl to girl.

Rome gave both of them an odd look, "Okay first," She said looking at Natasha, "That's weird and slightly discomforting. Second," She then turned to Pepper, "Pepper, come on, you've got a banging body. Don't let these American Girl Dolls and Instagram models ruin your confidence."

Pepper gave her a reassuring smile although it did seem forced, "Thanks Rome."

Rome gave them a thumbs up, "Great, now let's find a spot," She then turned around and stared at the people around her. All of the other girls truly were younger and more fit than her. They all seemed to be much more beautiful and delicate than her group. Her heart started to beat faster and she had to take a few deep breathes to calm herself down, "Preferable in the back where no one can see us."

Natasha snorted and bumped her shoulder, "Ahh come on Rome, don't let these plastic dolls get the best of you," The redhead teased and gave her a predatory smirk, "They'll feed off of your fear and insecurity."

"Natasha," Pepper scolded her and shook her head before walking forward and picking a spot close to the back. It wasn't in the very back like Rome had wanted but there were still enough bodies that she could hide if she wanted too.

Natasha and Rome walked forward and placed their mats out. Pepper was on the far right and another girl stood beside her. Natasha had placed her mat in the middle and Rome made claimed the spot next to her right on the edge on the row.

Rome stood back and watched as Natasha unzipped her jacket to show off the very tight-fitting sports bra that made her look amazing. The three of them had all been wearing the same black yoga pants that went just past their knees. But, all three of them had chosen different tops. Rome then glanced over to Pepper who was wearing a white tank top with a sports bra underneath.

She shifted back not wanting to take her jacket off. She didn't want a whole bunch of strangers staring at her body as it jiggled. Natasha glanced over at her and glared, "Why are you still wearing your jacket?"

"Because I'm cold," Rome deflected.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "It's going to be ninety degrees in here, take off the stupid jacket."

Rome clutched the jacket closer to her body. Natasha rolled her eyes and lunged forward reaching for the zipper and Rome held her arms up in defeat, "Alright," She grunted out, "I'll take it off."

Slowly she let the zipper fall and with great will power, she shimmed the jacket from her shoulders. So, maybe going with a tight, dark blue, work-out tank top was not the best choice for her. It showed her boobs off and when she looked into the mirror on the wall, she could see how it clung to every curve. Okay, so maybe wearing this wasn't the best idea, every girl around her was wearing something less than her and they all looked equally better. It also didn't help that every girl looked ten years younger than her.

Rome was twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight, it worried her sometimes. The thought of her thirties approaching and still not having any idea what she wanted. She had her dream job, she had some friends, but overall, she felt like she was missing out on something. As she looked at the girls around her, she grimaced as they all looked well put together.

Like they had all of their lives and shit figured out.

The song of a gong going off caught her attention and all three women looked to the front. The instructor had walked through the door yoga mat in hand looking at peace. She slowly laid it out in front of all of them and took a deep breath slowly stretching her arms outwards, towards them. "Welcome," She said calmly while taking a deep breath, "And let the journey to relaxation begin."

Rome felt anything but relaxed.

* * *

Rome was stuck to the floor, panting, as sweat covered her whole body. Every muscle in her body hurt and she as pretty sure that she was about to combust. She had thought that this was going to be fun but it ended up being tortured. It had been an hour and forty-five minutes of straight, hot, torture to her body. Rome is pretty sure that she discovered muscles in her body that she didn't even realize she had. Why did she think that this was a good idea again?

As she opened her eyes, she looked around her to see that everyone else, sans her and Pepper, where completely fine. In fact, she was pretty sure that she couldn't even find a drop of sweat on any of them. Rome held up her arms for help and Natasha was the one to pull her off of the mat and to her feet. Rome only shook her head in disbelief, "I don't get it," She said as she stared at the girls who still had a fresh face of make-up on their faces, "It's like nothing happened."

Pepper, who was chugging her second bottle of water, nodded her head in agreement with Rome. "I don't get it either, it's like they look better than when they came in?"

Rome titled her head to the side, "Were we ever like that?" She asked the other two women as they watched a group of younger girls conversed. "Young and flexible?" Natasha snorted and Rome glared at her slightly.

"I don't know," Pepper said as she crunched the bottle, "But, what I do know is that I feel like I sweated out half of the water in my body." She then looked towards the door, "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of hungry, you guys in the mood for some pizza?"

Natasha nodded her head, "Yeah, I could go for some pizza. I know this great place in Brooklyn that has some great pepperoni pizzas."

"That sounds good."

The three older women collected their things and quickly left hot yoga behind them.

* * *

"So," Rome suggested while chewing her second slice of pizza, "Hot yoga wasn't our thing, but I think this might be."

"What?" Pepper mumbled as she bit into her slice of pizza.

Rome swallowed and gestured to the pizza in front of them, "I think going to restaurants and eating can be our thing."

Natasha let out a large burp and threw a dirty napkin back onto the table, "I'm game with that," She then picked up her large soda and began to slurp through the straw. Rome watched as Natasha began to glare out the window to the restaurant.

"What are you glaring at?" Rome asked as she tried to make out what Natasha was seeing.

Natasha kicked back her chair so it was resting on the back legs. She used the hand that held the cup and pointed outside, "There's someone out there, trying to take pictures of us."

Rome squinted her eyes and finally saw the person who was pretending to not take pictures of them. He was someone that she recognized before. A paparazzi that always tried to make something out of nothing. Rome smirked and elbowed Pepper lightly, the woman was taken out of her pizza bliss and looked at her in confusion.

"Looks like we have a little fly," Rome said gesturing the man with her head.

Pepper rolled her eyes, "Whatever," She said and took another huge bite of her slice, "just tell him I'm leaving Tony for this pizza." She said as she chewed, "Because pizza will never leave you, pizza will love you forever."

Rome and Natasha laughed and held up their drinks, "To pizza!" They toasted and Pepper lifted up her water clicking it with their glasses, "To pizza!" They cheered again.

The next day Rome had received a text from Tony. Asking why there had been several articles claiming that Pepper was leaving him for her. With the pictures of the three of them toasting and laughing with each other at the pizza shop.

"Well," Rome said to herself, "At least we're not fighting over Tony anymore."


	10. Time For A Wedding!

_**We all have that one family member**_

* * *

Rome didn't hate her family, contrary to popular belief, it just took a lot out of her when she was with them. She had built up a tolerance to her mother after so many years, Roxie had always been different, but the others were where she struggled.

Specifically, her cousin Julie, who had taken it upon herself to plan their grandparents' wedding renewal ceremony. Julie was that one cousin that liked everyone except her, the woman was so passive aggressive towards her that Rome almost had to laugh. It had been that way ever since they were kids, Julie would always be the one throwing tantrums. Showing off all of her new toys that her Mommy and Daddy bought her because her parents had stable incomes.

That had never been the worst part of it all though. The worst part had always been how much her mother loved Julie. How she looked at her like she was her own daughter and would always state how proud of Julie she was. Because being head of the PTA, having a litter of children, and being a kindergarten teacher was what her mother was proud of.

Not her own daughter, who had gotten multiple college scholarships on her own. Landed a job with one of the biggest companies out there. Left her small hometown for a big city and managed to create a life for herself without the support of practically any of her family.

Yeah, Rome's not bitter.

She guesses she's selling her mother a little bit short. Julie was always more perfectly behaved then Rome. She could always keep her mouth shut and seemed to know exactly what to say and when to say it. Rome was the opposite; she was not polite, had foot-in-mouth disease, and always seemed to have the worst luck. Rome figured that her mother was expecting a perfect little girl when she was born and instead was given a rabid dog.

Still, it would sting sometimes when Julie was hanging around her mother and her. Someone would come up and compliment her mother and then look to Julie and ask, "Oh, and I see this is your daughter." Her mother would then have to give them that tight smile and correct them. She would then gesture to Rome who gave a little awkward wave.

It was true, Julie looked like her mother. But that's only because her mother looked so much like her sister. The pale blonde hair, light blue eyes, and light complexion that made them seem like porcelain dolls. Always dressed so nicely because that's how they were raised, to make it seem like there was no imperfection. Sometimes, unintentionally, Rome felt like the imperfection in the family. The black sheep if you will, or in her case, the mixed sheep of the family.

She was different. From her dark curly hair that needed different shampoo to her darker complexion that she obviously inherited from her father's side. She was not as dark as her father, but still, it was obvious that to any person she was the outsider in the family.

Roxie had been the only one that hadn't made her feel like an outsider. She was the result of her Aunt's teen pregnancy that their family never likes to bring up. Unlike the other members of her family, Roxie didn't inherit all the traits. She still had blonde hair, but it was more of a golden blonde, not a pale ashen blonde. She still had blue eyes, although hers were a dark blue that she had gotten from her father, and her personality was all her own. It was as if Roxie had been born to be defiant. Together, they both would be the overalls and always played in the mud. They were the ones who forced their grandfather into showing them how to shoot a gun. Together they had made each other's childhoods bearable.

Then they both went a did some pretty stupid shit in their adult life. But there was no need to focus on the past. All that matter was the fact that she was here to see their grandparents renew their wedding vowels after fifty years together. And if watching her grandparents fall in love again meant tolerating Julie, then Rome would suffer for it.

Which lead her to her current situation. Sitting at the side of one of the tables, her head propped up against her hand, as she watched Julie commanded the poor event vendors. Rome wasn't even sure as to why she was here. All she knew is that if she said no to Julie then her mother would have a fit and that was something that Rome just didn't have the time for.

She heard someone sigh loudly beside her and she glanced over to see her cousin Oliver sit down. He looked quite unhappy and seemed to be as annoyed as Rome was. Although that's usually how Oliver always was. The big shot of the family who went on to become a lawyer and always seemed to be mad at the world. He was the son of her mother's oldest brother, Jonathan.

Rome watched as Oliver took off his suit jacket and placed it on the chair behind him. He took the plastic cup in his hand and downs its contents, Rome was guessing that it wasn't Apple Cider. His stylishly cropped blonde hair seemed to be a mess and Rome could see the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow.

"She always does this," he grumbled as his pale blue eyes glared at Julie, "Always has to make a big show out of everything."

Rome shrugged indifferently, "Of course she makes a big show out of it, this is all she has."

Oliver snorted, "Well, that was her choice," He mumbled and then looked towards her, "How are you handling this by the way? I know how she makes you feel…" He then paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, how she makes all of us feel."

Rome gave Oliver her best fake smile, "Oh, trust me, I've been holding back. But I promised my mom that I would hold my tongue." She then scrunched her face up as she remembered the conversation, "I also promised her that none of my 'work' life," She put hand quotations around the word work, "Would interfere with this wedding."

Oliver smirked and raised an eyebrow, "So, Aunt Lucy still thinks you can control the weather," He said and Rome knew what he meant.

It was a joke that had been said at her Uncle Jonathan's fiftieth birthday where she had shown up late. Rome had busted in through the door like a maniac with the wind snow flurrying around her. The rest of the family had already sung happy birthday and eaten the cake. Her mother had given her that disappointed look that she knew all too well.

 _"The party started two hours ago," Her mother scolded._

 _"There was a major snowstorm and half the roads were closed."_

 _"Then you should have prepared better," Her mother had snapped at her as she clutched the paper plates tight._

 _There had been a snort behind them and both women looked over to see her Grandfather resting in the recliner. "Damn, Lucy, what do you expect the girl to do? Control the damn weather?"_

 _Rome had always been ashamed to admit that she bit her lip to hold back laughter._

Rome rolled her eyes at Oliver, "At this point, I think she believes that I create the weather," She then gave out a great sigh and leaned back into her chair. She let her head roll to the side as she looked at her cousin, "I don't know how I'm going to get through this weekend." She admitted.

"You could always use my method," he suggested as he took another plastic cup from the seat beside him, "Copious amounts of alcohol."

Rome gave a fake smile, "I would like to have my liver still functioning by the time I'm forty."

Oliver shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, I'm almost thirty-seven and I'm doing just fine."

They head Julie let out another bark of orders at the two men who were carrying around large flower vases. "No!" She said as she pointed in another direction with the hand that wasn't on the clipboard, "I told you, tulips go over by the picture wall. While the red roses are placed on the table as centerpieces." The men quickly corrected themselves and Julie shook her head like she was dealing with idiots.

Her gaze then turned towards them and Rome quickly sat up in her seat. She elbowed Oliver in the side, "She's looking at us," Rome said quickly as Julie started making her way over to them, "Oh no, she's coming over here."

"Here comes the Wicked Housewife," he mumbled into his drink just as Julie had stopped in front of them.

She gave them that sickly sweet smile that told Rome she wanted something. "Rome," She said kindly and her eyes hardened when she saw Oliver sitting next to her. "Oliver, I didn't know you were coming? I thought you told me that you were going to be in North Carolina for a trial."

He shrugged his shoulders, and set his cup down "Yeah, well, my client ended up taking a plea deal and I was able to get some time off."

Julie cocked her head to the side and Rome watched as the little vein in the side of her head looked ready to pop. "Is Erica coming?" She asked in a false concerned voice. Rome knew what Julie was trying to do. Oliver had recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend Erica after three years of dating for, very obvious reasons.

Oliver waited for a few beats before licking his teeth and glaring at Julie, "You know, I would have asked but she was too busy sucking your husband's dick to answer."

Rome's eyes widened and she let out a loud cough to cover up her laugh. She didn't think that Oliver would go there but he did. Rome looked up to see Julie becoming the color of a firetruck and Rome was pretty sure she saw smoke coming out her ears. Julie then stiffened her back and clutched the clipboard so tight that Rome was pretty sure Julie was going to break it.

"Well," She said tightly and brushed a piece of her hair back over her shoulder, "If she does come, and you see her, can you let her know that she's not invited."

Oliver smiled and nodded his head slightly, "I'll be sure to pass on the message." Oliver, done with their cousin, then stood up, "Now, if you need to find me, I'll be making full use of the hotel's bar."

He left with some swagger in his step and Rome knew that he had won this battle. She felt dread build inside of her as she realized that she was now alone with Julie. "Rome," She said her name again and Rome instantly wanted to punch her in the face. "I know that Aunt Lucy already told you, but, well, I just wanted to make sure that any of your friends won't be making an appearance." She then sat down in the seat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "I just want to make sure that everything goes right for Gram Gram and Pappy. They are fragile people after all, I just don't them getting too stressed out or have something that could hurt them."

Rome lifted an eyebrow, "Didn't Pappy just do the five-mile canoe race two weeks ago?"

"Yeah, but that's different, he does that every year. I'm talking about, you know…" She then trailed off and looked to her to finish her sentence.

"You mean you don't want any of the Avengers or my personal life coming here,"

Julie pulled her arm back and smiled brightly, "Glad you can understand," She then stood up and started walking away. But stopped herself when she remembered something, "Oh, and if you happen to have contact with Roxie. Can you tell her that she's also not invited to the wedding?"

"Sure thing," She replied in a Faux happy voice.

Julie smiled and hugged her clipboard looking happy with herself, "Don't you just love weddings?" She asked before turning around and clicking her heels towards the chocolate fountain.

Oh, she was not going to survive this weekend.

* * *

The ceremony for the wedding was supposed to start in less than an hour and Rome somehow found herself stuck in her Gram Gram's hotel room. When Julie had told her that she needed to help Gram Gram get ready, she thought she needed help with her hair or make-up. Not getting her laced up and into the dress. Look, Rome loves her grandmother but there are just somethings a grandchild should never have to see.

Her Grandmother in a corset in one of those things.

"Don't be afraid to pull a little tighter, Darling. I used to wear these all the time back in the day." Her grandmother said as Rome pulled on one of the laces. She grimaced, Rome really didn't want to know what that meant.

Rome then tied off the final lace and knotted it into a pretty bow, "There," she announced as she met her grandmother's eyes in the mirror, "All down, now onto the dress."

"Is Roxanne coming?" Gram Gram asked as Rome started zipping the bag that the wedding dress was held in. Rome faltered a little bit as she pulled out the beautiful white dress, "I know the two of you were always close. It's just, I worry about her sometimes, always on her own. I just thought that maybe she would come just this once to see me and your grandfather."

Rome paused and carefully removed the dress from the bag, "Grams, you know that she can't exactly come back, right?" Rome asked her grandmother after she turned around. "She committed a crime, she's technically a traitor to the country."

Her Grams shoulders slouched and she sat down on the bed, "I know," She admitted as she stared at the ground, "It's just, I thought that if she knew you were coming, then she would come." She then looked up at Rome and smiled as she saw her dress in her arms. "But I'm happy that everyone else still came," She said she got up from the bed, "It's not every day that I get married to the same man again."

"Yeah, not everyone has the luxury of saying that," Rome said while smiling.

"You know I can still remember the day I meant you Pappy," She murmured nostalgically with a wistful look in her blue eyes, "We had both snuck out to see Elvis perform live. Oh, and he was standing there, looking so handsome in that leather jacket of his," She then smiled, "He tried to make himself look cool by smoking a cigarette in front of me."

Roms furrowed her brow, "Doesn't Pappy have asthma?"

Her Gram Gram chuckled, "Yeah, I ended up having to rush him to the hospital because he started having an asthma attack."

"Romantic," Rome said before lifting up the dress and showing it to her grandmother, "Now, you ready to get this on?" She asked.

She lifted up a pale wrinkled finger, "Yes, just one more thing," She said before going into the bathroom leaving Rome alone.

She laughed softly at her Gram Gram's zaniness, sometimes she wonders how all their children turned out so strict. Suddenly, Rome heard the familiar ringtone of her phone going off. She carefully put the dress down on the bed and reached into her purse to see that Julie was calling her.

"Hello?" She asked annoyingly as she put the phone to her ear. The last thing that she wanted to hear more of was Julie's voice.

"Rome," Her cousin said in a tight voice, "Big problem, turns out the pastor for the wedding got food poisoning."

Rome rolled her eyes, "Then call another pastor, Julie." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, to her it was, honestly, she can't believe that Julie didn't have a backup pastor.

Julie huffed over the phone, "I already did," She snapped back harshly, "Everyone other one is either busy or on vacation."

Rome pinched the bridge of her nose, "So then why are you calling me about it?" She then sat down on the bed almost defeated.

"Well, I was hoping that you could tell our grandmother, that her wedding might have to be postponed," There was sniffling coming from the other side, "Oh, I can't even bear to imagine what she might look like. Her poor old heart will probably break in half."

Rome was silent for a moment, "Uhhhh…" She said for a moment and paused, "Julie you do realized they're already married right. The only real reason they wanted to do this is that no of us ever want to get together for a family picnic."

There was a groan from the other end, "Look, Rome, can you tell her or not."

An idea then popped into her head. Something that Tony had mentioned to her one night while both had been drunk. She smiled as she thought of a way to save the wedding and upstage Julie. "Julie," She said into the phone, "Keep everything as planned, I know an ordained minister."

She hadn't even given Julie the time to reply. She hung up and quickly speed dialed Tony, who picked up on the fourth ring. "Hey-o, I thought you were at a wedding and was banned from talking to me?" Tony asked from the other end.

"Forget that, remember that thing you told me the night we got drunk off of margarita's…"

* * *

Rome couldn't help the Cheshire grin the crept onto her face as she watched her grandmother come down the aisle. She had not only saved the wedding but also got watch as Julie silently fumed from her seat. Her face was red in anger and Rome could swear that her glare would be able to set anyone on fire. Except for the one person that she wanted too because right now Rome was fucking fireproof.

"Wow," She heard Oliver whisper to her as he looked at the pastor, "You really gave Julie the biggest fuck you, you could possibly give."

Rome shrugged her shoulders proudly, "I try," She then turned to him as they both shared a look. They then smiled and both tried to keep their laughter in. She then turned her attention back to the people up at the altar. She owed Tony a million Margaritaville's.

The pastor then cleared his throat, "Ladies and gentlemen," He said in an authoritative voice, "We are gathered here today, to celebrate the reunion of…" He then glanced down at the paper in his hand, "Ethel and Melvin Matthews…" He then went on a began reading the rest but Rome could help but chuckle.

After all, seeing a leather-clad Nick Fury officiating her grandparent's wedding was something she would never forget. As she lifted up her phone and took a photo of it, she would make sure that he was never going to forget it as well.


	11. No Amount of Baby Blogs Can Help Her

**_I hope you all like and please feel free to comment._**

* * *

Rome was sitting on her couch with her legs crossed over each other. She stared blankly at the T.V. in front of her trying to process the information she had just learned. There was a dip in the spot next to her as she felt the other person occupy it.

"Rome?" She registered as Roxie's, "Can you please say something."

Rome pressed her lips into a thin line trying to think of something to say. There was nothing really that she could think of that would properly express what she was thinking of currently. The news was confusing and she had no idea how she was supposed to take it. She had never dealt with a situation like this before.

"Rome?" Roxie asked again, her voice wavering slightly.

Rome shook her head, "I don't really know what to say," she confessed, "I mean, this is one hell of a shock."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Roxie flinch, "I know this is surprising, but I really think,"

Rome cut her off finally meeting her cousin's eyes since getting home from the hospital, "It's not surprising, it's _fucking_ shocking," She paused and her face contorted in anger or disbelief she couldn't tell which one she was feeling more. "Roxie, you're fucking pregnant, like really fucking pregnant."

"I know," She said guilty her hand going to rest on her rounded stomach.

"You're seven months pregnant and you're still a wanted criminal, I mean you're not even supposed to be in the U.S."

Roxie's face fell, "I know," She said this time sounding sadder.

"The father?" She asked trying to pull more information out of her.

"He doesn't know," She confessed and Rome sighed Roxie then started shaking her head and hands, "It's not like that, we were in love, well actually it was more like summer love. But if he knew about this then he would support me one hundred percent."

Rome ran a hand through her hair, "So why not tell him?"

Roxie bit her lip, "It's complicated."

"How complicated?"

"Well," Roxie stretched out the word, "He's not normal."

"Elaborate," Rome said harshly with a stone face.

Roxie looked like she was trying to figure out what to say. She opened her mouth a few times to reply but quickly shut it. Her blue eyes looked like they were trying to figure out how to solve a complicated word problem.

"He's fast," Roxie said finally much to Rome's confusion.

"So, he wasn't good at sex? Roxie, what does this have to do with you being pregnant?"

"No, not that," She rolled her eyes, "He's actually really good at that. I meant that he runs really fast, not like a runner fast, I'm talking _The Flash_ fast."

Rome lifted an eyebrow, "He's gifted?" She asked and Roxie nodded her head, "So, the baby…" She trailed off.

"Might be gifted as well," She finished for her. Roxie rubbed her stomach again and looked a bit uncomfortable.

Rome then looked around her apartment. It wasn't big enough for two grown women and a baby, hell it was barely big enough for Rome. But Rome was going to support Roxie no matter what because that's what family does. If the baby was gifted then she would support the little shit as well.

"I'm gonna have to move," Rome exclaimed and Roxie gave her a confused glance, "Well if we're going to raise this little shit then I'm gonna have to get a bigger place."

Roxie gave her a relieved and happy expression. She then lunged forwarded and wrapped her arms around her peppering her with kisses, "Thank you," She said thickly, "Thank you so much."

Christ, this was going to be an interesting next couple of months.

* * *

Rome dealt with the issue of Roxie's pregnancy by the only way she knew how. Research, lots and lots of research. She talking about stalking all of those mommy blogs and reading every book that she possibly could on the subject. She watched YouTube videos about birth and even Googled how to take care of a baby. Look, she was just desperate, she had three weeks until a newborn was entering her new apartment. To top it all off, she was three weeks away from a possible newborn with powers was going to enter her new apartment. Yes, she moved into a much bigger, better, nicer place that was in the richer district of New York.

Which lead her to where she was now, sitting at her usual place in the Avenger's tower. She was so engrossed with her reading that she didn't even hear someone enter the room. She was reading about how much a woman's body changed when someone cleared their throat. She snapped the book shut immediately and looked up to see Clint standing there.

She looked from his suggesting eyes to the book, then back to him. Her eyes widened, "I'm not pregnant," She said quickly, "It's my cousin, who's staying with me, she's the pregnant one."

Clint looked unaffected, shrugged, and sat down beside her on the couch. He leaned back into the comfortable piece of furniture and propped his feet onto the coffee table. Throwing an arm back, he reached for the remote and turned on the TV.

He hadn't said anything, but Rome got the feeling that he wanted too. Slowly, she went back to reading her book but her eyes always flickered to Clint. He didn't stray from his position even once, not a single muscle on his body move as he watched mindless TV. Rome didn't even look up to see what he was watching, she was sure it was something stupid.

Two hours and three chapters later, Rome couldn't take it anymore. She slammed the book shut and buried her face into the nearest pillow she could find. She screamed so loudly that even the pillow couldn't really muffle it. Clint looked over to her with a passive expression on his face, "What chapter did you just pass?"

"Labor and Delivery," She said throwing the pillow to the side. She rubbed the back of her neck and stretched out her body, "You know I would do a lot for my cousin but if she asks me to help with the delivery then I'm done. There are just some things of her that I don't need to see and vice versa."

Clint smiled but he tried his best to hide it, "You should go to some of those pregnancy classes," He suggested, "For first time parents, they help a lot."

Rome thought nothing of his words, "I would," She admitted in defeat, "But Roxie's still wanted by the United States Government for treason."

Clint made a noise of discontent and flipped the channel, "Sucks,"

Rome made a noise of agreement, "You have no idea." She mumbled to herself and went back to reading her book.

"You know, I might have some old books that should help you," Clint said after a moment of silence.

"Really?" Rome said excitedly, still not fazed at what Hawkeye had said. He had been in the circus so she figured he had seen a thing or two about home births, "Do you think you could give them to me?"

Clint took a bite of a sandwich that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "I don't see why not," He shrugged and like magic a coffee pot materialized into his hand. Well, not really, but she felt like it because she had not seen them there before.

* * *

It really shouldn't have surprised Rome that any child of Roxie's was bound to make an entrance into the world. The had prepped for weeks, Rome even going through drills in case the baby came earlier, spoiler alert, she did. Roxie did not formulate a birth plan because, and she quotes, "Rome, it's a baby, it's gonna come when it wants to come." So, their main goal was to have the baby in a hospital.

Apparently, that was too much to ask for.

A major storm had hit Manhattan and they were all currently on hurricane watch. The news had warned everyone to stay indoors no matter what and to…Well, Rome didn't know what the last part was because the power had gotten cut off. Her whole apartment had plunged into darkness and she had been calm and collected.

Until she heard those fated words come out of her cousin's mouth, "Uhh, Rome, I don't want to alarm you, but, I think my water just broke?" There was a pause and two seconds later she heard Roxie call out again in a panicked voice, "Ahh, yeah, definitely didn't pee myself, I'm totally in labor."

Roxie sprung into action. She leaped from her spot of the couch and rushed into Roxie's room. She looked as she saw her cousin clutching her stomach, sitting on the edge of the bed. Not wanting to waste any time Rome quickly got the hospital bag and grabbed Roxie's hand. As fast as she could, Rome guided her out of the apartment and to the staircase, since the elevator had no power.

Rome guided them down the four flights of stairs as fast as she could. But the closer they got to the bottom the slower that Roxie was moving, "Everything alright?" She asked.

Roxie grimaced in pain and clutched the metal bar of the staircase tightly, "Something's wrong," She said letting out a large exhale, "It shouldn't be happening this fast."

Rome felt her heart flutter, "Just keep the kid in there until the hospital."

Roxie nodded her head but said nothing. Rome could tell that she was in great pain and was trying her best to stay positive. This was unknown territory for the both of them and she was really trying to keep it together.

They finally came to the bottom of the staircase and as soon as the doors opened Rome grabbed Roxie's hand, rushing her out. They were about four steps out of the staircase when Roxie fell to her knees. Rome, thankfully, was able to catch her in time. Together they say on the floor of the lobby, with Roxie clutching her stomach in pain.

"Rome," She panted out, "We're not gonna make it to the hospital." She said while shaking her head.

Rome groaned, "Yeah it was wishful thinking anyway," She heard the sound of rushed footsteps and looked to see that the doorman Norman had come over to help. Norman was a nice older gentleman, someone who would totally have experience with having kids. "Norman The Doorman, my man, I'm going to need you to call an ambulance." She said as she laid Roxie on her back.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Roxie let out a cry of pain and Norman immediately rushed off to the nearest phone.

Suddenly, she was left alone with her cousin and Rome didn't know what to do. None of the blog posts or baby books prepared her for a birth in the middle of her apartment complex's lobby. "Well," She said trying to make light of the situation, "I guess this kid is totally like you. Little shit just has to make an entrance."

Roxie chuckled but it soon turned into a whimper, "Rome," She whispered, "I'm scared."

Rome took a deep breath, "Everything's going to be fine," She said, "This baby is going to be fine."

Roxie nodded her head but Rome could tell that her words did little to comfort her. She was an actively wanted criminal, currently in labor in the middle of a huge storm in the middle of the lobby. Things were not entirely in Roxie's favor right now. But still, Rome was going to try her best to make her comfortable.

She heard hurried footsteps again to see that Norman the Doorman was back and he had brought a friend. Rome groaned as she recognized the man that was coming towards her, there was no mistaking that face anywhere. The man in question was tall, had dark hair that was greying at the edges, vivid blue eyes, and a goatee around his face. He was arrogant, a know-it-all, Tony Stark-esque, a doctor, and he was also her neighbor.

"Strange," She greeted him through gritted teeth, "Why is it that every time something goes wrong in my life you show up?"

Roxie moaned, "Rome," She pleaded and rolled slightly, "Not now."

"Your cousin's right, Rome, right now I'm your knight in shining armor," He gloated but quickly turned his attention towards her cousin, "How far apart are the contractions?" He asked.

Roxie grimaced, "To fucking close," she said.

"That's not a number."

"Fine, I think forty-five seconds?" She said unsure and let out a cry of pain again, "Fuck, yeah, they're definitely less than a minute apart."

Strange look towards her, "Why didn't you go to the hospital earlier?" He asked in a judgey tone.

"Her water literally just broke," Rome said baffled while looking at her cousin, "Like, seriously, no less than ten minutes ago."

Strange furrowed his brow, "That's not possible," he said in a condescending tone.

Rome rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't talk to me like I'm a child, Strange, I'm just telling you what happened."

"And I'm telling you that you're wrong,"

There was a groaned, "Oh, who the fuck cares!" Roxie exclaimed while managing to get onto her elbows, "All that matters is that this baby is coming, right the fuck now. So, can you pull this sucker out of me or not?"

Strange look unimpressed, "Of course I can do this, delivering a baby isn't hard," Rome slapped the back of his head, "What I meant to say is, I operate on impossible cases on a daily basis. Babies aren't that hard."

Rome had to bite her tongue and hold back a groan, God he was just so annoying. Strange then moved his way to in between Roxie's legs. With her permission, Strange removed her pants and underwear, for decency sake Rome placed a blanket over Roxie, and looked at her pelvis region. Rome watched as a perplexed expression came across his face, he tilted his head to the side and let out a little, "Mmph," noise. He looked back up to Roxie with questioning eyes, "You're sure your water broke ten minutes ago?" he asked.

"Pretty fucking sure," She panted out in pain.

Rome looked to Strange, "What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

Strange shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing's wrong with her, in fact, everything looks fine," He then looked back under the blanket, "It's just…she's already ten centimeters dilated."

"So?" She asked wondering why that was perplexing towards him.

"Well, if her water just broke, she should only be about three centimeters dilated, but…" He then gestured to her, "Here we are."

Roxie let out a cry of pain, "I'm gonna start pushing," She said and swallowed thickly, "I really feel like I need to push."

Strange nodded his head and got into position, "Okay, that's good," He said encouraging, "Whenever you feel ready, I'm going to need you to push as hard as you can. Okay?"

Roxie nodded, "Okay," She replied in a weak voice. Rome scooted her way over to her and clutched her hand.

"Hey," She said, "You got this."

"I got this," Roxie said to herself, "I got this." She more determined although did not look it. She then took multiple short breaths, readying herself for extreme pain, and began to push.

Twenty minutes and five pushes later, at 1:05 pm, delivered by Dr. Stephan Strange with help from her godmother Rome Matthews, and Norman the Doorman. With tuffs of light hair and bright blue eyes, Luna Stephanie Matthews made her first appearance into the world screaming and perfectly healthy.

* * *

When Luna first met Tony, that's when Rome knew something was special about her. Tony, who was surprised by the sudden appearance of a baby in her arms, gave her a curious glance. "She's my cousin's kid," Rome explained vaguely as the baby gurgled in her arms, "Cut little shit, isn't she?"

Tony smiled at the three-month-old, blonde hair baby, "She's something," He said and made his way over to her. When Tony waved at Luna, she giggled back and reached her arms out towards him. Tony gave her wary glance but Rome reassured him everything would be fine. With slightly shaky arms, Rome was able to smoothly pass over the baby to Tony's hold.

Rome then watched in fascination as Tony's gaze was practically transfixed onto Luna. The lines of worry that she usually saw started to disappear. He smiled and laughed as Luna did so as well, every time the baby would giggle, Tony would laugh. That's when she knew something was up because Tony did not usually laugh like a child. Well, at least this frequently.

Rome furrowed her brow as she watched her older friend practically turn into a child. He was bouncing Luna up and down, making odd faces at her, when Rome asked her first question, "Tony?" She asked in concern, "Are you okay? You're never really like this around kids?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders without a care in the world. He started showing Luna different toys with as much enthusiasm as he could, "I don't what it is about this kid, Rome," he told her happily although he seemed confused by his own words, "It's like one minute I was on the verge of having an anxiety attack. Then once this kid was plopped into my arms, I felt all better, actually more than better! I felt like the world was my playpen and I could do anything with it."

"Mmpph," Rome said and bit her lip, "Well, that's descriptive."

All of a sudden Tony's face changed. His once happy smile turned into a sad one and she saw tears developing in his eyes. Rome ran over to him and helped him down in the chair, carefully removing the baby from his hands.

"Tony!" Rome yelled as Luna started crying, "What the hell, are you okay?"

Tony shook his head and blinked away the tears. He put a hand to his chest a took a deep breath, "Yeah," He said sounding like his normal self, "I'm fine, it's just for a minute there, I felt really sad."

Luna then began crying more and the two adults turned towards her. Rome bounced her a couple of times and tried to calm her down. She rubbed her back and soon the little blonde was dozing off to sleep on her arm. Rome smiled and turned back to Tony, "I guess she was just tired?" She suggested.

Tony shrugged, "Guess so, though I can feel the kid's pain, I guess I should hit the hay as well since my emotions are all over the place."

Rome then froze as Tony got up from his chair and walked off to sleep somewhere. A realization hit her and she glanced down at the baby, her heart beating dramatically. She swallowed and made sure to carefully not wake the sleeping baby as she sat down. Tony's emotions mimicked Luna's once they touched each other. Then, when Luna was no longer touching Tony he returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

Shit, Luna had powers, and she was only three months old.

"Oh, I hope your father was a quiet type," She whispered softly to the resting child on her chest, "Because I don't think the world could handle a Roxie with powers."


	12. Five Years Later

_**SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!**_

* * *

 _5 Years Later..._

Rome sighed as she stared at the small cottage house ahead of her. She had been parked for five minutes, just looking at it. The familiar feeling of sadness and relief washing over her body, ever since The Snap five years ago. She lost almost everything on that day. She had lost her mother, Roxie, and most of all, she had almost lost Tony.

"Auntie Rome," A small voice came from the back of the bar. Rome turned around and smiled at the little blonde-haired girl, "Why are we at Uncle Tony's house?"

Rome smiled at her Luna and tried to make sure her eyes did not water. "Because I need to talk to Uncle Tony about something," She then unclicked her seatbelt and exited the car. She moved to the other side of the car and opened the door.

Rome smiled as she watched the sleeping form of her son. He had finally closed his eyes when they reached the halfway point of their trip. He had closed his little eyes and nodded off to sleep, his little body limp and relaxed. Not wanting to disturb him, she did her best to unbuckle him from the car seat and transport him into her arms. He was heavy but even at seven years old she couldn't help but still carry him like a toddler.

"Luna," She whispered to her god-daughter, "Come on, grab your stuff." The little girl nodded her head and grabbed the small pink backpack. She threw it over her shoulder and started skipping towards the front door, causing her pigtails to bouncing.

There was slight mumbling and Nicholas stirred in her arms, telling her that he was waking up. She chuckled and kissed the top of her head as she walked up the porch steps, "Alright sleepy head," She mumbled into his hair, "It's time to wake up."

She gentle placed him on the ground and he wobbled a bit before stabilizing himself. She watched as her son let out a great big yawn and rubbed his tired green eyes. He gripped her hand tight and seemed nervous to let go of it. She smoothed down his curly black hair and motioned for Luna to ring the doorbell.

It took Tony only a few minutes to reach the door. A smile graced his face as he saw who it was, "Hey guys," He greeted them warmly smiling at each of them. "Luna, Nick, Morgan's playing in the Den if you want to join her." They both nodded enthusiastically and Luna grabbed Nick's hand zooming them off into the house. Leaving her alone with Tony.

The smile the graced his face vanished when he looked to Rome. "What are you doing here?" He asked her. He said it with a slightly defeated tone, probably already knowing what she came here for.

Rome shrugged, trying to play it off, "Can't I just visit an old friend?"

Tony scoffed, "Of course you can, you know you're always welcomed here," He said and leaned against the door, "But you usually call first and by the look on your face, I'm guessing they got to you."

Rome smiled, her lip wobbling in doing so, as she sat down on the wooden chair. "They told me things," She confirmed and thought about what Steve had told her.

Tony sat down in the chair next to her, "What do you think?"

Rome sniffed and wiped her nose, "I think, that as much as you want to deny it, you've already made up your mind." She then looked off into the distance, trying her best to catch sight of the kids. She saw a glimpse of them. All three lying on the ground playing with each other and it made her heart sore. She then looked back Tony and placed her hand on top of his. "We've come, far haven't we?"

He snorted, "Feels almost like a lifetime ago," He then looked up at her, tears clearly in his eyes, "Rome I can't lose them," He said in a thick voice, "I can't lose this."

"You won't," She reassured him, "You won't ever lose them."

"I just," He paused and lifted his hands up, "I feel like if I do this, then I won't be coming back."

Rome was openly crying now, understanding what he was saying. "Are you sure?" She asked him and he nodded. They had been friends for so long that she couldn't barely stand the thought of a world without him. She had known him before the Avengers, before Iron Man, before all the alien shit. She had just known him as Tony and to watch him grow had been a great privilege of hers.

"Do you think they'll understand?" He asked her motioning off to where the kids were playing.

"No, not at first, but then again no ever truly does," She bit her lip, "We just keeping moving forward."

Tony laid his other hand a top of hers and Rome tried her best not to sob. She knew that this was probably the last time she was ever going to see Tony again. This was her last time ever spending time with him. Her last time being his friend and confidante. The time she had with him, she would cherish forever.

"I'm gonna miss you," She said with her voice wavering, "I'm gonna miss you so bad."

Tony smirked but she could see the sadness behind it, "Life's never been easy for us has it?"

"No one ever said it was," She agreed and a small sad smile graced her face, "So, how about you go save the world one last time?"

* * *

The sky had turned dark but Rome had not moved from her place. She still stood in front of the lake where the funeral was held. Her tears had dried up hours ago, the kids were taken inside, but she could not find herself to move.

When she moved she would have to accept the fact that her friend was dead. Not just her friend, her best friend in perhaps the entire world. She was never one to easily accept death and she knew this was coming but she still held out hope. Rome was waiting for Tony to pop up, to say something witty and tell her it was all a practical joke on them.

She waited and waited and waited, but the joke never came.

This was real and there were no do-overs this time. This time death was permanent. This time it was going to stick and she hated that. She hated that this was the only way it could have ended. The only way to defeat Thanos was through the sacrifice of her best friend and it hurt. It hurt seeing him there, no arc reactor light, so still and lifeless. There was no fire behind his eyes, no witty statements or quips, it was just silence.

"Hey," Came a deep voice and Rome jumped, turning around to see Stephen's face.

"Hey," She said weakly and watched as he made his place beside her.

He took a deep breath and looked out towards the water, a distant look in his eyes, "It was the only way," He said and she could hear the undertones of the statement. Telling her not to be mad at him, not to be angry with the world. "14 billion possibilities and this was the only we could have won."

"I know," She said, "Still hurts, though."

He paused for a moment, "You wanna come inside?"

Rome shook her head, "No, I think I just wanna stay here for a little longer."

Stephen put his hands into his jacket pockets, "Okay," he said and stayed there with her.

Rome felt like her heart was breaking. It had never hurt this much before, not even with her dad or Roxie. This was an entirely new feeling to her and she didn't how long it would take to heal. Maybe she would never heal or get over it. Maybe this would haunt her till the day she died. She didn't know and at this point, she didn't care.

"He was a dick," She said quietly and Strange gave a strangled noise in her general direction. He looked at her questioningly and she shrugged her shoulders. "He's a dick for doing this, dying, he's a dick for doing a lot of other things… but he was also my friend," She then paused and nodded her head softly, "And I'm really gonna miss him."

Tony Stark was many things to her; a dick, asshole, master of quips, her boss, a hero. But most importantly, he was her friend and that was something that would never change. Even in death.


	13. First Attempt To Impress Her Cousins

_**In this installment, Rome tries to impress her young cousins that she is cool and not totally boring.**_

* * *

Though Rome never got to see the paternal side of her family much, she always had a close relationship with them. When, on the rare occasion, she did get to visit her family in Jamaica Rome absolutely loved it. Her cousins over there were laid back and chill, they were funny and always laughing smiles never leaving their faces.

She can still remember when she was fifteen. Her mother and father let her spend spring break in Jamaica. That week was the best fun she had ever had. Her aunts had cooked her different food and taught her how to create colorful dresses. Her female cousins taught her how to braid her hair and different dances. Her male cousins were the ones that showed her hackeysack, soccer, and how to properly fish in the ocean. They had all gone out on boats and went swimming deep in the Ocean, gazing at all the different colorful fish.

Then, on her last night, they all went to the beach and had a big final party. Which include a big BBQ, jerk chicken, and so much more. Rome had never felt so loved and accepted in her life and she was sad that it had to end. After her father had died, it had become difficult to visit his homeland and his family. Once she had graduated college, and gotten some of her shit together, she started visiting them again. Rome tried her best, now, to visit them as much as possible and talk them whenever she could because she still wanted that relationship with them.

So, when her Aunt Kala, her father's younger sister, came to New York for her job and asked her to watch her children. She said yes. She hadn't had much experience with kids, sans all her cousins' kids, but they were all little kids. Her two cousins that she would be looking after were twelve and they both liked her. They were two little chill kids and she looking after them wasn't going to be hard.

Rome then heard a knock on her door and she got up from her couch, knowing who was there. Her Aunt was running a little late, but that was expected, New York was a hard place to get around. Rome opened the door and smiled at the three people in front of her. Her Aunt Kala was panting slightly, but still looking radiant. She had a grateful smile on her face and she had one hand on each child.

"Rome," Her Aunt sighed out, "Thank you for doing this. It's just with fashion week and traveling, this whole thing is just…" She trailed off and shook her head and talked with her hands with each word.

Rome just shook her head, "It's no problem," she told her and motioned for all of them to come into her apartment. "Family is family, you're always welcomed here."

Her Aunt gave her a coy look, "Good to know," She then turned around and brought herself to eye level with her children. She gave both of them stern looks, "Cassius, Kalani, I want both of you to be good for your cousin." She watched as Cassius rolled his eyes but both of them nodded their heads in agreement, "Anything she says you will follow, understand?" She asked, they said nothing and narrowed her eyes, "Understand?"

"Yes, Mama." "I promise, Mom." Both of them said at the same time.

Kala kissed both of their cheeks and got to her feet. She then rushed over to her and gave her a quick side hug. She then rushed out of the door and Rome turned to her two cousins, "So," She asked with much enthusiasm ready for a chill day, "What do you guys want to do?"

The two twins looked at each other then back at her, "Is it true that you know the Avengers?"

Rome sighed, so much for a chill day.

* * *

"I thought there would be more things happening," Cassius said as he swiveled in the counter chair, a sandwich she had made for him sitting in front of him. He was bored, Rome could tell, he looked around the room as if he was waiting for some alien attack to happen.

"Well, aliens aren't always attacking the city," Rome said as she placed another sandwich in front Kalani. Kalani, who so much like her twin, seemed bored out of her mind. Resting her arms on the table and letting her head rest against one of them. She looked at the sandwich and raised an eyebrow at the sandwich.

"This is boring," Kalani complained as she poked the bread. She then lifted her head and looked to her twin, "Can we do something else?"

"Well, what do you want to do?" Rome asked.

Cassius and Kalani shared a look, like they were silently communicating with each other, reading each other's minds. The smirked at each other and then turned toward her, "We want to see the Iron Man suit."

Rome sighed and leaned against the counter looking at both her cousins, "Tony isn't exactly here right now,"

Cassius scrunched his nose up, something that happened when he was confused, "I thought you and him were friends?"

"We are," Rome confirmed confused also about where this was heading.

"Can't you just call him up then,"

Rome sighed, she wanted to bang her head against the marble counter. She then got an idea and bit her lip, sharing the same smirked with her cousins. "While I can't get Iron Man himself here, I can show you guys his suits."

This got them excited, they both jumped up and Rome felt giddy. She was going to be the cool cousin; she was going to be the person who got people excited instead of boring them to death. Rome motioned with her head for them to follow her. They hopped off the chairs and followed her like little ducklings following their mother.

Jarvis had opened the doors to the lab for her and the twins went on either side of her. "Well," Rome announced, "This is it."

She watched as joy and wonder flashed across their eyes. They seemed to be in a little shock at seeing all the different robots and Iron Man suits. Cassius was the first to move, walking up to an Iron Man suit and cautiously putting a hand to it. Rome would have warned him away but she knew Tony always kept the suits powered down when he wasn't around.

"I didn't know there were so many of them," Cassius said into the silent room.

Rome looked around the room impressed, "Yeah, well, Tony get bored easily so he makes these guys to fill his time." She then noticed how Cassius was caressing the one suit like it was a mythical creature.

"Well, I actually I build them to save people," Tony voice came ringing from behind them. He was wearing one of his newer armor sets, as he causally leaned against the door frame. "And when I got an alert than two unknown people had entered my lab, this was not what I was expecting." He then walked down and gazed at her two cousins, "Although, it's not unwanted."

Cassius was gaping like a fish, pointing a finger at Tony, "You're Iron Man," He said in a shock voice, then an excited one, "You Are Iron Man!"

Tony nodded his head, "Yeah," He said proudly, "I am Iron Man." He then smiled, "And you are?"

Rome took a step forward, "They're my cousins the shell shocked one is Cassius and this quiet one," she motioned towards Kalani, "Is Kalani."

"From your father's side?" He asked.

Rome nodded her head, "Yep," She confirmed, "What gave it away?" She asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, maybe the personality was a dead giveaway," He joked, "I mean without that they could have fit in right next to your mother."

Rome barked out a laugh at that one. She doesn't even think her mother had spoken to her father's side of the family since the funeral. It wasn't like they didn't get along, it was just that neither side knew each other very well. Her father had tried so hard to get rid of his heritage and culture that he almost didn't want to introduce her mother to the rest of his family.

"Hey kid!" Tony called out to Cassius, "You want to take a ride in one of these things?"

"Yes!" Cassius replied excitedly.

"NO!" Rome replied firmly putting a hand up to stop Tony from moving forward, "How about we do not endanger the lives of my cousin while he is visiting."

Tony scoffed, "Please, Rome, your little cousin is safe with me. It's not like I would drop him or anything," He then shrugged, "And even if I did, I would catch him."

Rome thought about it for a moment and looked to Kalani, "You promise not to tell your mom that I allowed this."

Kalani raised an eyebrow, "Only if I get a turn as well," She said sassily.

Rome sighed and rolled her eyes, looking to Tony with permission. He silently agreed and Rome shook her head, "I can't believe I'm being extorted by a twelve-year-old," She mumbled to herself.

"Technically I'm twelve and a half,"

"Oh no one counts the half," She snapped at Kalani.

"Everyone counts the half," She retorted placing her arms over her chest and jutting her one hip out to the side. In that moment Rome was reminded of her when she was younger, her defiance and independence. Her stubbornness and wanting for fun and adventure.

Plus she couldn't ignore that cute puppy dog face she was giving her.

"Alright fine, you can have a turn as well," Rome gave in but looked to her two cousins seriously, "But no one tells your mom."

* * *

"So," Her Aunt Kala asked as she inspected her two children, "Did you guys do anything fun?"

Kalani and Cassius shared a look and shrugged their shoulders. Rome held her breath, she really hoped they held up their end of the bargain. "Not particularly," Cassius said and Kalani nodded her head adding in, "We mostly just hung out here while Rome did work."

"Oh, good," Kala cooed then knelt down and kissed both of their heads. She then pulled back and looked at them confused. She pulled them both close and sniffed each of their heads, hard, and Rome felt her heart leap into her throat. "Why do you both smell like oil?" She asked.

Kala looked to her. Rome tried to stay strong but she couldn't help it, that look was too much like her father's look. She usually had a good poker face but never when it came to this side of her family. "In my defense, it was their idea!" She yelled out quickly pointing at them.

The twins rolled their eyes and Aunt Kala shot her a quick look, "Rome," She said flabbergasted, "Are you telling me that my children drove cars?"

Rome felt her cheeks heat up and looked down to the floor as it had become way more interesting that her Aunt's eyes, "No, not exactly," She mumbled.

"Then what did they do?"

"We flew in the Iron Man suit!" Cassius exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet. Kalani then hit the back of his head and the boy quickly stopped what he was doing.

"The Iron Man suit?" Aunt Kala asked again, "How did you even manage that? I thought you only work for the company."

"I do," Rome confirmed and begun to ring her hands together, "But, well, Tony and I are kind of really good friends. And when we got there, I had only meant for them to see the suits not to fly in them, but then Tony came, and well…" She trailed off, "You can imagine what happened next."

Aunt Kala closed her eyes and sighed, a motion that her father often did when he was frustrated.

Suffice to day Rome was now the coolest cousin of her family on her fathers side. However, if you asked her Aunts and Uncles that question, they would not answer the same.

* * *

 _ **Hey y'all, I'm back, I just wanted to write some family fluff for Rome. To let you know I have some more ideas with Rome's paternal side of her family. Also, I should have said this at the top, but this story is not linear and will often jump around in years. So, that is why Luna is not mentioned in this chapter because she is not born yet.**_


	14. Sure, Jan

Here's the thing about Rome's anxiety, sometimes it just came at her. She was mostly able to control it but there were a few moments where she had to sit down. Then there were two occasions where she had actually fainted because of her anxiety. It was embarrassing considering that the first time she had passed out, she had been seventeen and it was in the middle of Health class. God, she had never heard the end of it for weeks. She was the girl that had passed out during the giving birth video, but no one realized that it was also her first time back at school after her dad. Just the sight of the hospital room had been too much for her and her brain just kind of 'noped' out.

The second time she had fainted, she had been twenty and it was in front of a college professor. The man was an asshole, decided to ambush her after class and tell her what was wrong with every little thing in her paper. Again, this had not been the first time she had been yelled at, for some reason her anxiety decided to spike and just cause her to pass out. The professor, luckily, had caught her before she could hit the hard-concrete floor and do further damage to herself. She had been out for only a minute but it was enough to scare the absolute shit out of her professor. So much so that he refused to give her a bad grade the rest of the semester.

However, since that event, Rome had been able to manage her anxiety pretty well. Sometimes she would walk the line of passing out, but she would always pull herself back. Sure, she still had panic attacks but not at the frequency that she had when she was younger. She had improved so much since she was a child and she was still improving, still working on herself.

But sometimes, even with her medication, there are those days that you just can't help it.

The days when everything just becomes too much and you every heartbeat in your chest. The days when you feel like breaking down and just crying your eyes out. And you can't understand why you want too, only that the feeling is so overwhelming.

Unfortunately for Rome, she was having one of those days when she was transported back to Asgard. It had taken her completely by surprise, she hadn't talked to Thor in months. Her letters to Loki had been slowing down because of how busy she had become at work. Then, just to add a little more stress, Luna's powers were only getting stronger and harder to hide. She was at the age where she understood what you were saying but she couldn't understand that having powers was not normal for everyone else. The damn little girl was just so happy all the time. And when she was happy it would show, literally, a blue mist would start to come out of her hands and everyone else in the room would become affected by it.

Asgard had not been in her planner on places she needed to be and that stressed her out. Thor was a dear friend, so was Loki, but whatever it was they were dealing with could wait. When the Rainbow Bridge closed and she was greeted by a solemn-looking Heimdall, Rome knew she was in for it. "What?" She asked, her heart beating.

"They need your help," He told her in an almost pleading voice, "Thor needs your help."

"Yeah, well, I'm not constantly available twenty-four-seven. Some people have lives, I have a life." She ended the sentence by pointing at herself.

Heimdall frowned, "It's Jane," he said darkly, "She's here as is your god-daughter."

She felt her heart almost stop and Rome had to put a hand to her chest to make sure it was still beating. "Are they in the castle?" She asked. Heimdall nodded his head and that was all she needed.

Rome took off running and she was happy that she had chosen to wear flats this day. It was easy running down the bridge in them. She was only semi-aware of the ringing in her ears, the slight speckles that were at the edges of her eyes. She didn't care though because Luna was here. Luna was here, on another planet, when she was supposed to be on Earth. A million scenarios ran through her head and each of them worse than the last.

After weaving her way through the city, bypassing the guards, Rome made it into the castle. She looked around for anyone that she recognized. Looking for the familiar head of light blonde curls, or any blue mist like substance. Tears came to her eyes when she could not find either.

She then ran to the dining hall because she knew where that was and was hopeful. But once she got there, she found that nobody was there and she couldn't take it anymore. Tears started pouring down her cheeks, her vision was almost completely fuzzy, and she was just so lightheaded. She stumbled, tried leaning against the golden table, but it didn't help.

It was odd, fainting because you don't realize that you've done it until you wake up.

* * *

 _Earlier that day…_

Fun Fact about Jane; she's terrified of kids. Seriously, she faced down aliens, gods, a giant metal laser thing, but kids? Kids are the scariest thing that has ever happened to the human race. There are so many ways they could go wrong if you don't raise them correctly. There are too many variables at play when it comes to kids. Then there was the whole Nature vs Nurture debate, which terrified her even more. It terrified her because it was basically saying that even if you raise your kid right, he could still end up a raging psychopath.

So, yeah, kids? Fucking terrifying, would rather face the giant metal laser man than babysit them.

Unfortunately for her, Jane Foster, she was also a kind and befriending person. These traits, inherently, hindered her ability to say no. For example, earlier today a friend of hers, Rome Matthews, asked her if she could look after her goddaughter for a couple of hours. It wasn't really a big deal, she had worked with both Luna and Rome before, but she had never worked with just Luna before.

 _"Jane, please, I need to attend this meeting," Rome had begged._

 _Jane looked at the toddler with pure fear, "What about Roxie? Or literally anybody else?"_

 _Rome cringed, "Roxie's cut a deal with the F.B.I. If she helps them on their missions, then she won't go to prison. So now every time they call, she has to go and help them, which is really an inconvenience but it's better than prison."_

 _Jane made a noise of agreement; it was better than prison. She let out a big, frustrated sigh, "It's there anyone else?" She asked again, using her big brown puppy dog eyes._

 _Rome didn't budge. Damn that woman and her heart of steal. Jane looked at Luna, who was drooling over a teething tool and grimaced. Oh, to hell with it, it was only a couple of hours. What could possibly go wrong?_

Jane probably jinxed it right there.

Her whole day had gone down hill ever since Luna was transferred into her care. Her date, couple disaster, the freaking kid wouldn't stop laughing every time he spoke. She would point her finger at him and giggle, "Funny voice, funny voice," Then she would start laughing because Luna was laughing.

Oh, Jane should also mention that Luna had powers that fucked with peoples' emotions. How did she know this? Well, she knew this because Rome and her were talking one day about, well Loki's scepter, and it just sort of came up. Rome had told her that she wasn't affected by Luna's powers while everyone else was.

So, Jane, as any scientist would do, came up with a hypothesis. She hypothesized that whatever powered Loki's scepter and whoever fathered Luna. Had to have been created by the same energy source. They ran some scans to make sure and when Jane looked at the results, her jaw had dropped. Both Luna and Rome had some of the energy that was housed inn Loki's scepter inside of them. Of course, Luna had more but still, it was big deal. And Rome, how did she react, she just brushed it off like it was no big deal. Again, skin of steel that woman.

Anyway, during the disaster of a date, Thor Who, Darcy came rushing in and practically dragged her away insisting more portals showed up. Jane barely had any time to say goodbye or grab Luna for that matter. She did, much to the toddler's annoyance, and after strapping her into her car seat. Which took three tries, Jane was off to the warehouse Darcy was talking about.

Now, this is when things started getting weird.

When they had arrived at the warehouse and Jane saw a couple of teenagers, plus Darcy's assistant. Jane knew that this was either going to be a brand-new discovery or something really dumb. Jane had grabbed Luna from the back and let the toddler wrap her arms around her as she carried her inside. Jane looked to the kids and asked, "Show me," the nodded and all of them went inside.

The kids were laughing, not really understanding the ramifications of what they might have discovered. Darcy was grinning like a maniac and Ian, well, Ian just looked as confused as Luna did. One of the kids picked up a rock and grinned at her, "Watch this," He said and threw the rock over the railing. Jane watched as it fell and then…disappeared.

"What," She said and looked back to an enthusiastic looking Darcy, "What?"

"Cool right?" Darcy then fished the car keys out of her pocket, "Whatever you throw in," She said and tossed them into the voice, "Comes back." They waited a few seconds yet the keys did not return. Jane raised an eyebrow and looked at her younger friend. Darcy shrugged, "Well, almost comes back." She then turned to Ian, "Hey can we throw your shoes in there?"

"Darcy," Jane said slowly knowing that her assistant had the attention span of a goldfish, "Can you hold the kid for a second?"

Darcy nodded and Jane handed Luna off to her, "Where are you going Jane?" She asked as she held Luna under her armpits, her legs just dangling in the air.

"I'm going to go check this out," She yelled as she took a step closer and reached her hand out.

Now, in hindsight, this was probably where she went wrong. Because Jane could not tell you what the hell happened when she was gone. Hell, she didn't even really know that she was gone. It was sort of like blacking out, having a really weird fever dream, and then opening your eyes. To her she had been gone for only seconds, but to the world she had been gone for six whole hours. Her disappearance had lead Darcy to call the cops, her car getting towed, and oh Thor decided to come to Earth. That one took her a second to really sink in.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as he stood in the middle of the circled burned into the ground. "Do you know how long it's been since I've last seen you?"

He flinched, oh yeah, he knew. Jane didn't really want to go into the details of their conversation but it mostly ended with Thor saying that they needed to go to Asgard. Jane bit her lip and looked over to where Darcy was standing. Luna was sitting on the cold wet pavement beside her and she could see that Darcy had giving her some sort of candy. Jane made up her mind, "Give me one second," She then rushed over, grabbed Luna, and ran back. Thor gave her a confused look. Jane brushed it off and she gripped Luna tightly to her chest, "I'll tell you later," She said and that was the end of that.

The trip to Asgard went smooth, like she had anything to compare it too, and all was fine. Until she got to the freaking castle and she met the parents. They were giving her weird looks until Jane realized that no, they weren't giving her weird looks, they were giving Luna weird looks. She then realized what it might look like to them.

Luna was blonde, very blonde, with bright blue eyes and an adorable smile. Some would say that smile could relate to Thor's. Jane's eyes widened and it took her everything in her power not to drop the child right there. "This isn't mine," She said quickly, holding out Luna like she baby Simba, "It's a friend's. I'm just watching her for the day.

As if trying to make her life harder, Luna took that very moment to start crying. Jane had never dealt with a crying toddler before, let alone one with powers. She could see Luna's eyes become a different shade of blue, wisps of blue mist coming from her hands, an overwhelming feeling to cry starting to take over. Things then started to shake and move, like plates or the flames in the candles and Jane just knew it was Luna.

"Oh, come on," She bargained as tears started coming down her cheeks, "Come on you little shit, don't you cry, the last time you did this to me I almost passed out from dehydration." She bounced her up and down but that only made it worse, which caused Jane to start crying even more. "What do you want?" She asked her through tears.

"Baba!" Luna wailed and Jane wailed with her. That stupid freaking unicorn stuffed animal that she left in the car.

"I don't have Baba, but I have," She fished around in her pockets trying to find something, "I have a paper towel." Luna wailed harder.

Jane placed Luna on the ground and ran her hands through her hair. If only she had that stupid unicorn, she could even see it now, perfectly, in her head. The feel of the fur on its body, it's texture, the smell of it. It was like she was holding it in her hands; Jane looked back at Luna and frowned. "What?" She said allowed as she watched the now content, and very happy, looking Luna snuggling her Baba. The Baba. The one she had just thought about.

"Huh," She said. Then promptly passed out.

* * *

Rome gave a Jane a tried look as she finished tell her the story, "So," She finally said, "Long day?"

Jane huffed out a nervous laugh, "You can say that," She then brought her arms in closer together, "How's the head?" She asked.

Rome touched that large lump on her head, "It's fine," She said with indifference, "How's the weird magical red goo inside of you?"

Jane shrugged, "Fine, except for the fact that it's killing me," She then cracked a smile, "I mean honestly, it's not the worst way to go. At least it's rememberable and cool, much better that choking on a piece of cake."

"You're not going to die," Rome insisted, "They'll find a way."

"Yeah, but the only one who can really help is locked away forever or trying to kill me." Jane did a miserable fist pump, "So, yeh me."

Rome placed a hand on Jane's, "Frigga will help," she said remembering all that she could from Thor and Loki's mother, "If anyone can help it's her."

Jane looked appreciated and then smirked, "Speaking of her, it seems the Queen has taken a liking to you god-daughter." She chuckled, "I don't think I've seen her take her hands off of her once since I've been here."

"Great," Rome moaned while rolling her eyes, "Just what I need another Asgardian liking another member of my family." She placed a hand against her cheek and groaned, "When did this become my life?"

"I hear that," Jane agreed as she picked up a grape and plopped it into her mouth, "I mean, at this point, nothing really surprises me." She said while chewing. There was a pregnant pause and moments later Jane snapped her fingers multiple times pointing at Rome. "Speaking of surprises, I found out that the same energy source that's found in both you and Luna. Is similar to the one that's inside of me, with only a few differences."

"Oh," Rome mused, "So the thing that's inside you, has the same power levels as the thing that powered Loki's scepter?" She paused. "Cool." Another pause, "You know I could always just ask him what that thing was."

Her and Jane exchanged glances at each other. Rome watched as Jane made suggestive faces towards her. Wiggling her eyebrows and biting her lip, nodding her head a little bit. Rome took the hint and sighed. "Fine," She said and Jane smiled, "But I'm only doing this because you're my friend and you're dying."

Jane smirked and chuckled out a, "Sure, Jan."

Rome did her best to ignore the heat that came rising to her cheeks.


	15. Uh Oh Spaghettios

Rome first met Luna's father when she was thirty-five weeks pregnant and just about over it. It had been a long grueling pregnancy. It had been filled with lots of vomit, nearly passing out, hormones, and the dodging of questions. The last one she was her particular favorite because it was always the same damn one. " _So, who's the father?"_ God, if she had a dime for every time that was asked of her, she would be as rich as Tony.

Tony, who was the biggest offender, asked it almost on a daily. Everyone else was very respectful of her privacy but Tony, oh Tony. She loves him dearly, is the god-father of her child, just wouldn't let it up. He wanted to know, but the reason why he wanted to know was actually sweet. He wanted to know because he wanted to make sure that Rome was going to be taken care of. That her and her child weren't in any danger. Even though Rome had told him multiple times that she was going to be fine as was her child. He still asked, vowed that he would find out, but never did anything about it.

The secret was nearly blown a couple of nights ago, at a party, when her and Thor saw each other for the first time. The last time she had saw him she was on Asgard helping him out with Jane. When he looked down at her extended stomach, his face contorted into that of someone trying to figure out a difficult math problem. Then, Rome watched as Thor's eyes had widened and she knew that he _knew_ who the father was. Despite being a god, his poker face was shit.

Then something weird happened that night, or so she was told. One of Tony's robots came to life and called itself Ultron. Apparently, it sang a Pinocchio song and vowed to kill them or some stupid shit like that. And, under normal circumstances Rome would have cared more, really, she would have, but dear God her kid had been kicking up a storm and she couldn't sleep because of it. Her doctor was super close to putting her on bedrest until she went into labor. For fear that she might develop preeclampsia and, you know, die.

She had done her best to keep her stress levels down, as did the rest of the Avengers. What didn't help was when she would find random objects floating in the air in front of her. Or, when she had to wrap herself in about ten different blankets because she felt like a popsicle. What didn't help was knowing that not one, but now two different children were going to be under her household. Rome almost shivered just thinking about it.

It was when she saw the news the next morning, about the Hulk and Iron Man fighting each other did Rome finally let herself care. She took a deep breath and waddled herself down to her car. Not caring that she was wearing her sweatpants and very old stained t-shirt that was four days old. She drove down there, avoiding her craving for blue slushies, and parked into the private parking garage. The security guard saw her and instead of stopping her he merely just opened the door and let her in. Rome had gained the reputation that when she came walking your way, just move.

She got into the elevator and waited for the familiar voice to appear. After a couple of seconds, Rome furrowed her brow and looked to the ceiling, "Jarvis?" She called out and felt panic when he didn't reply, "Jarvis is something wrong?" When there was no reply Rome shook her head and pressed the button herself. Tony had probably just taken him down for maintenance or something like that. It was a long trip up, and Rome had to do her best to keep her nerves down for the baby.

Except all of that nearly went out the window when the elevator doors opened.

Rome stood still as she was greeted by the sight of everyone gathered around a big box. They were arguing talking about bring something to life but Rome's focus wasn't on that. It was on the man who was zipping around the room like it was nothing. He had blonde-white hair, large blue eyes, a handsome long face, and he was fast. Like really fast. The Flash fast. Streaks of blue trailing behind him every time he moved.

Rome felt her whole body go still and her mouth dropped. Her hand went down to her stomach as she watched the man argue with the Avengers even more. Someone had noticed her, someone new who she had never seen before. She had similar features to the Roxie's baby daddy, long face, blue eyes. Oh, those blue eyes that reminded her so much of Luna.

"Who are you?" She asked in a heavy accented voice and her eyes flashed red. Another trait she shared with Luna, only different colors.

Everyone paused and turned around to stare at her. Tony's eyes widened when he saw her and his face morphed into that of concern. "Rome," He called out and ran over to her, putting a protective arm around her, "What are you doing here?"

Rome gave Tony a confused glance, "I saw the news, I wanted to make sure you guys were alright." She walked over to the rest and stared at the cause of such arguments. "What is this?" She asked as she saw a being lying inside of box. However, he eyes went to stone that laid in his head. The same stone that gave Luna's father's his powers. An infinity stone, The Mind Stone, if she remembers what Loki told her, correctly. She felt a strong kick and Rome placed a hand over the spot. Her baby felt the power of it too. Rome wasn't going to lie, she could feel a pull to it, like there was something tempting her to touch it. She ignored it as best as she could but still, it worried her, it worried her that this stone was here.

"Look, Rome, I made a mistake with Ultron but I can fix it. I can help." He told her in a pleading tone, like he was trying to convince her.

"You brought an Infinity Stone back to Earth?" She asked with slight anger, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

That statement made everyone confused, Tony the most. "What? What the hell is an Infinity Stone?" He asked.

However, Rome was not given the chance to explain further as Thor had come flying in. He landed on the box and summoned lightning. Then with great forced plunged it down onto the being and Rome watched as the being's eyes opened.

The baby kicked, hard, and it wasn't a normal kick either. It was a warning kick and it caused her to clutch her stomach and double down in pain. She cried out and was lucky when Tony caught her, whispering concerns into her ear. Rome heard none of it though, her eyes too transfixed on the being before her. The power of the Infinity Stone pulling her in. A couple years ago she had been affected by that very same stone.

Loki told her had it had changed her, along with Clint and Erik. How, since they had been under the influence of the Mind Stone, they were immune to illusions. It was why Luna's powers didn't work on her. It was why Loki's illusions didn't work on her; she could see past them because her mind had been altered by the Mind Stone.

Rome cradled her stomach and grunted out in pain. This felt different than a kick, it felt like a knife was twisting in her stomach. "Rome!" Tony cried out and she leaned into him, clenching her teeth in pain, "What wrong?"

"It's the child," The being that Thor had just brought to life said. He stared at her with a curious gave, "It can sense the power of the Stone."

"Okay that's the second time someone mentioned something about a stone, can someone please explain it to me." Tony yelled out.

"Ahahhhh," Rome cried out again and was almost brought to her knees, "Tony," She panted, "I think I'm going into labor."

Tony shook his head, "No, that can't be." A gush of water then went down her leg and Tony noticed the wet spot, "Shit!" He yelled and looked around for help, "What the fuck do we do?"

"Get me to a hospital Dipshit!" Rome yelled back and forced herself forward, leaning against the box. She then thought about Luna, back at her place, Strange watching her for the time being. "Shit," She mumbled and looked to Tony, "Can you hand me your phone, I need to call Strange and tell him that Luna's gonna need to stay for a little bit."

"Not that douche." Tony declared as he dug out his phone, "I'll have Happy pick her up and I'll get Pepper to call Roxie while I'm at it. And you're not going to any hospital, I've had a whole Labor and Delivery unit set up and HQ."

"Wait," Another accented voice came, it was the man this time, Luna's father. He had zoomed right in front of her and stared at her, like he was trying to figure something out. "Your name isn't Rome Matthews, is it?"

Rome let out a huge sigh nearly groaned, but not from the pain. "Shit," she whispered, "I was really hoping you wouldn't catch on."

Tony stood straight up and pointed a finger at him, "Wait, you know each other?"

"NO!" They both exclaimed loudly at the same time. Shared a look with each other, then confirming what they both knew.

"Tony, you know how my cousin was wanted by the government for a little while?"

"Yeah."

"Well, along the way she made some… _friends_ ," She tried to convey what she meant with the way she said the last word. She waggled her eyebrows and did every motion in the book to try and say without saying that Roxie and Pietro did the Devil's Tango and created Luna in the process.

"I'm not getting it." Tony said.

"Neither am I and I was there for it." Pietro chimed in and if Rome wasn't in labor right now, she would so slap the shit out of him.

Rome was about to saying something again when another power wave of pain washed over her. She cried out and leaned up against the cradle that Mind Stone Dude just came out of. She slapped the cradle hard with her hands, hoping that pain would dull out the contractions. It didn't.

"I think what Rome is trying to say is that Mr. Maximoff is the father of her cousins' child."

Chaos then erupted and Rome was forgotten as she watched everyone around begin to squabble.

Exhausted and hurting, Rome slid down to the floor and sat on the ground, her hand trying to smooth her active child. It was not Tony who came to comfort her, nor Bruce, Steve, or any of the Avengers. No, it was the being who had the Infinity Stone on his forehead. He came and sat next to her, watching the bickering Avengers with critical eyes.

"It seems that I've made a mistake." He inquired

Rome huffed, "Yeah, well, welcome to being human."

* * *

One day, a couple of pushes, and the avoidance of another world ending catastrophe later. Rome gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Nicholas Anthony Matthews. Roxie hadn't been able to make it for the birth, neither was Tony. Pepper came though, she came and held her hand, telling her that she was amazing and beautiful.

She had just gotten done breast feeding for the first time when her first visitor came. It was Tony, of course, it was him, still in his Iron Man suit with a bunch of balloons. He smiled as he saw her awake and well, with a baby in her arms.

Rome smiled and motioned for him to come in, "Hey," She greeted him in a quiet voice, making sure not to wake Nick, "So, I heard you defeated a massive army of robots from destroying the world."

Tony waved a hand through the air, "No big deal, I heard you gave birth." He then pointed at Nick, "Is this yours."

Rome would have laughed if her entire lower half didn't feel like it had been cut open. "Yeah," Tears came to her eyes, "He's mine."

Tony came a little closer and knelt beside the bed staring at him. His eye began to water as he took his hand from the suit and let the skin of his hand brush against Nick's cheek. Nick mouth opened and he let out a cute yawn while he snuggled closer to her. "Damn that was cute." Tony mumbled as he smiled down at Nick.

"Do you want to hold him?" She asked.

Tony looked at her in fear and she gave him a look of reassurance. "Sure," He said shakily and carefully Rome passed her son off to him. Tony stood as still as a stature with Nick in his arms but his eyes had never left him the entire time. "This is…weird." He finally said. "I didn't know they came out this smile."

Rome chuckled, "Technically, Nick is tall for a newborn." She then saw a tear slid down Tony's eye. "What happened."

"The kid, well, speedster, Luna's dad…he didn't make it." He said solemnly

Rome felt her heart sink and she closed her eyes. Luna had her father back for only a moment before he was ripped away. Roxie had someone she loved back for barely even a second before he was killed. Nick's father didn't even know of his existence because he had already died. Her father had died tragically when she was just a teen. It almost made her want to laugh; maybe her family was cursed.

"How did he die?"

"He saved Clint, was saving a bunch of people while he was at it."

Rome swallowed, "Well, at least we can tell Luna that he died a hero."

* * *

Tony had left after a couple of more minutes with Nick. Saying that he needed to talk to Pepper about something. He had handed Nick back into her arms carefully and she said her goodbyes to him before feeling exhausted all over again. She hadn't had much sleep in the past two days, with the Avengers and having a baby and all, now felt like a good time to get some rest.

Except Thor had appeared in the door and ruined all plans of that.

She knew that they were going to have to talk eventually. She was just hoping that it would have been so soon. She was hoping that maybe he would wait until Nick was a little older and not a fucking newborn. From look in his though, it seemed that maybe Thor didn't exactly have plans to come back to Earth anytime soon.

"Lady Rome," He greeted her and stepped into her room quietly, "I'm glad that you are well."

"Thanks, Thor, really." She noticed his hesitance to come forward, "Do you want to meet him?"

Thor's eyes lit up and he smiled shakily, "It's a boy?" He asked cheerfully. He then came forward and stared down at the infant in her arms. He was still sleeping, which was bound to change soon, and Thor's smile grew even wider. "Rome, I know it's not my place to say anything, but if he ever has any questions on where he comes from or who his father was," he paused and looked to her, "I will gladly answer them."

Rome forced her tears not to come out. She wanted to tell him thanks but the words would not come out. She was a ball of emotion that was threatening to burst at any moment and Thor's words were just about her breaking point.

"I'll be sure to ask," She then bounced Nick up and down, "And I'll be sure to let him know about his fun Uncle Thor as well."

* * *

She was getting ready to go home when she saw the note. Rome stared at the generic _Congratulations_ card that sat on her bedside table. It was something that you got at the drug store because you forgot to get someone a real gift.

She had no idea who the card could have come from. All of her visitors came when she was awake and the nurse had told her that no one came while she was asleep. From the evidence of the card, though, someone had obviously come when she wasn't awake.

Rome reached for it and opened it up, reading what it said.

 _Congrats on the new baby boy!_ The card read then just below it, in scribbled handwriting, _You picked a good name. – Fury._

Rome huffed out a laugh of disbelief but smirked as she couldn't find herself to be mad.


	16. A New Purpose

Rome has a specific talent for sniffing out bullshit. It was a talent that she has had for many years, and has since perfected since her teen years. It has come in handy over her many years of being alive and it has been none more helpful than when working with Tony. No matter how great his lie was, Rome had always been able to see through it.

So, when the bombshell redhead came waltzing in and calling herself _Natalie_ , Rome knew that something was off.

The woman was too smart and too pretty to ever subject herself to someone like Tony. She loved the man, truly, she did, but she knew how to handle Tony. She knew that the humor was a result of all the pain that he had felt over the years. She, herself, had a similar dry humor and called him out of his bullshit if the occasion called for it.

Natalie, though, Natalie was too perfect. Rome had seen some pretty stellar girls in her time but Natalie wasn't like them. There was just something off about her; maybe it was the way she smiled or walked, hell the way she talked, it just almost seemed to perfect, too calculated. It was like she was the exact thing that Tony needed and Rome…Well Rome didn't like it one bit. She took one sniff in Natalie's direction and her bullshit detector was skyrocketing.

So, Rome did probably the least smart thing she could do. She confronted Natalie in the bathroom when everyone else was at lunch. She walked into the bathroom and leaned against the door, watching the woman washing her hands. Natalie instantly noticed her, she could tell from the way her body stiffened for a moment, from the way she looked at the door.

"Rome, right?" She asked playfully while pointing at her.

Rome wasn't having it, "Something is off about you." She declared and Natalie's smile did not faulter. "I don't know what it is, but, you're just too perfect."

Natalie, for her part, giggled and made herself seem shy. "Well, thank you Rome, but I'm anything but perfect."

Rome clicked her tongue and pushed herself off of the door, walking closer to her. "See, that's the thing," She said, "You are, perfect that is. You're everything that Tony needs right now. It's like you were made for to work for Tony and I don't get it." She eyed her up and down, "I don't get it and I don't like it."

Her smile didn't not fall but her eyes hardened. They weren't light or airy, they weren't clueless or smiling. They were calculated; they were the eyes of a predator going in for a kill. "I'm sorry you feel that way." Natalie said.

Rome smirked, "No you're not." She declared, "You don't give two shits about what I think or who I am, so don't lie about it." Rome then hardened her face, "To be honest I feel the same way. I don't care who you are, or what your true purpose is here. If it's information you want then I can give you about ten different people who are willing to spill. If it's blueprints that you want then you're not going to get it, this place is more protected than the CIA. If you want to hurt Tony though, then I will do everything in my power to make sure that you won't succeed."

"You're loyal to him." She noted, her voice was no longer high pitched or squeaky.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I am, despite my better judgement."

Natalie smiled, it was genuine this time, and tilted her head to the side, "I'm not going to hurt him."

Rome shrugged, "You might not intend to hurt him but that might not be the outcome. I don't know if you've noticed but Tony has a habit of getting himself into trouble."

Natalie lifted a perfectly carved eyebrow, "It's been noticed."

There was silence after that. The room plunged into an awkward silence and Rome wasn't sure where she should go from here. She could either leave and have Natalie leave after her, or she could walk into a stall and wait for Natalie to leave the bathroom. Fuck it! She thought, she turned around and walked out the door leaving Natalie behind her as she the door shut.

Rome was calm all the way to her office were she promptly locked herself in her private bathroom and began to freak out. She just threatened an employee; what the hell had she been thinking! Oh god, HR was going to have her ass for this. Even if Natalie was just pretending to be an employee, she was still actually employed threw Stark Industries. She could be sued, or even worse, she would be out of a job. She had never worked anywhere else other than Stark industries. She would have to start from scratch, or even worse, have a new boss. Look, for as much as she complains about Tony, he's actually a pretty good boss and she doubts anyone else could be as understanding and generous as him.

When Natalie quit a few weeks later, after the whole thing with the electric whip guy, Rome had never felt more relieved.

* * *

When she found Natasha, Steve, and some other random dude knocking on her door at 1 o'clock in the morning she just knew something had happened. They looked tired, dirty, and overall just done with the day. Their clothes were a mess, and Rome could have been just imagining things but she's pretty sure there Natasha looked like she had been crying.

"Do I want to know?" Rome asked as she let them in.

Natasha was the first to make herself at home, promptly falling over the arm of the couch, face first into the cushions. Rome raised her eyebrows and the un-Natasha like behavior and turned to Steve who was looking more and more his age. When Rome pointed to the still Natasha he just sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," There was a sound of protest that came from the other unnamed dude and Steve pointed to him, "Except Sam, he hasn't tried to kill us yet."

"Umm, I don't really know how to respond to that, Steve." She said, baffled at the words that just came out of his mouth.

"Yeah, look, it's really late. I haven't slept in, about, maybe, two days and I would really like to get some sleep. So, can we maybe just crash here till morning and I'll explain everything to you then?"

Rome stood in shock; she doesn't think she's heard Steve sound so improper before. However, she could tell that he really was tired, her building had good security plus Tony's extra protection, so she figured they would be good for the night.

"Alright, yeah, sure, you guys can take my room and I'll sleep in Roxie's."

Steve face turned to guilt and shame, "No, I don't want to kick you out of your own bed." He protested.

Rome shook her head, "It's not that, Roxie's left today for a week long mission and Luna's crib is in her room. So, I'm kinda guessing that the two of you don't want to tell with a fussy baby, do you?"

Steve nodded and so did Sam, "That's fair." They both sighed and Rome guided them to her room, telling them that she should have extra clothes as well as telling them to use her shower if need be. When she came back to the living room, she saw that Natasha was no longer lying face first on the couch. Rather, she was leaning back with her feet propped up on her very expensive coffee table. If she wasn't an ex-assassin and hasn't been actively hunted, Rome would be yelling at her.

However, Rome could see that something was troubling her, and she was already up, so she decided to talk to her. "Want to talk about it?" She offered as she sat on the couch looking to Natasha who was staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Fury's dead." She said in a steady voice while her face was stoic. Her eyes told a different story though, she looked as if she was struggling not to cry. "The Winter Solider shot him, oh and did I mention that Hydra was a part of SHEILD the entire time." She added and turned to her; a smile was on her face but there was no humor behind it. It was full of bitterness and cynicism, a smile that you only saw on people who were about to give up.

"That's a lot." Rome whispered softly.

Natasha chuckled, "It's not even the best part, no, the best part is that The Winter Solider, turns out, is actually Steve's best friend from World War Two." She said it as if it was a joke and even she couldn't believe it. Rome, who was forcing herself to be calm for the Natasha, gulped and attentively offered Natasha a comforting pat on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," She offered.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Why are you sorry? It's not like you organized this whole thing." She let out a giant sighed and sunk even farther back into the couch. "It's just SHILED gave me purpose, I was doing the right thing with them, and now that it's gone it makes me think, what was the point of it all?" She frowned, "Clint made me see that I could have another chance, Fury gave me that other chance, and now that they're both gone, I don't see the point in staying."

"Clint's gone?"

"He plans on retiring soon, going back to his farm so he can raise his family. I don't blame him, man has kids and I love them to death, it's just…" She trailed off unable to finish her sentence.

"It's just that you don't want to be alone."

Natasha wiped a tear away, "Is that so bad? Is it selfish for me to want him to stay?"

Maybe, Rome wanted to say, but was it so bad for Natasha to be a little selfish? The woman had been through so much since her birth practically, that maybe she deserved to be a little selfish. What was so bad about working with your best friend? Hell, hadn't Rome herself practically threatened Natasha a couple years ago for even the thought of hurting Tony. So, instead of saying maybe all Rome said was, "Who the fuck cares."

Natasha snorted and they both were silent after that. It wasn't until after Luna had woken up and Rome had returned with her did, she finally said something again. "How did you know, all those years ago?"

"Know what?" Rome asked in confusion as she gently bounced Luna.

"How did you know that I was a spy?"

Rome shrugged her shoulders trying to think back to those days. "I don't know, I guess you were just too perfect." She settled in closer to Natasha, "It might have been my overprotectiveness, hell maybe I was even a little jealous of you, but there was just something about you that smelled of bullshit."

"Maybe it was the hair," She offered and paused, "Yeah it was probably the hair."

"Well, whatever it was I'm glad that we're friends now, that and the fact you didn't kill me when you could have."

"You're welcome." She offered softly and slowly reached out one of her hands, gently pushing back a piece of Luna's hair. "I don't hate kids. I mean, I never wanted them, but I never hated them either." She met Rome's eyes, "What about you?"

"It terrifies me if I'm being honest with you." She admitted, "I mean I love Luna, and would do anything for her, but a kid of my own? What if I'm not able to connect with it, or love it, or take care of it? Then when it gets older? Hell, I'm scared for Luna growing up in this world, I can't imagine bringing a kid into that."

Luna had fallen asleep and was now drooling against her chest. She was sprawled out against her chest, her long legs practically wrapping around her waist. She had finally started sleeping through the night and she wasn't using her powers all the time, much to all their relief. Natasha was staring at her with a soft gaze and after a while a small formed on her face.

"She won't have to worry," Natasha whispered, "The world will be a better place, I'll make sure of it."

"Sounds like you have a new purpose."

Natasha grinned, "Yeah, I guess I do." She then closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

That's how Rome found herself that night. A sleeping baby with powers against her chest, an assassin sleeping on her couch, a super solider in her bed with a complete stranger, while she was chilling on her own. _Yeah_ , she thought, _maybe the world was already changing for the better_.

* * *

Rome sat on her couch, holding back tears, while Nick played in front of her. The source of her tears came from the news blaring, telling her that Captain America and Co. where now fugitives. Meaning that half of her friend group, plus Luna's aunt, where now wanted by the American government. Rome took a deep breath in and out, why couldn't things just go right for once? Just fucking once?

As she was about to let out a scream the doorbell rang and Rome picked up her son and went to answer the door. She had thought it was going to be Tony, hell maybe even Pepper, but she wasn't fucking expecting to see Natasha standing there with a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm guessing from the expression on your face that you've seen the news." She said.

"Why are you here?" Rome asked, trying to make her voice steady, it didn't really work.

"To say goodbye, I guess," she paused and thought about her next words, "I don't know when I'll be back."

"Will you be back?" Rome asked.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders, unable to answer the question. She then looked to Nick, who was having fun with a piece of Rome's hair, and smiled. She was thinking about something, that much was clear, the emotions that flashed across her eyes were strong. "If Luna asks where I am, why I'm not there for her dance recital, can you tell her that I wanted to be there something just came up."

"I'll tell her that you're making the world a better place."

* * *

"AUNTY NAT, AUNTY NAT!" Luna screamed as she ran towards Natasha. Nick was close behind her, his grin just as wide as Luna's. Luna, who was still in her ballet uniform, threw her arms around Nat in a bone crushing hug, while Nick wrapped himself around her legs. "We heard you're going to time travel!"

Nat smiled, "It's true, I am."

"But mom also said that you're going to space." Nick added

"That's also true."

Nick's green eyes grew wide, "So, you're not only time traveling but you're also time traveling in space?! You're like the real Doctor Who!"

"I don't think I'm that old." Nat joked with them.

Luna pulled back, tucking a rogue piece of blonde hair that had escaped from her bun behind her ear, and looked up to Nat. "When you come back will you tell us all about space?"

Nat bopped her nose, "Of course I will Lulu." She ruffled both of their hairs and sent them off. "Go talk to your Uncle Bruce, he knows a little more about this than I do."

Rome smiled as she watched the two children run off into the building. She turned her gaze where her eyes met with Nat's. "So, time travel, huh?"

Nat grinned, "Yeah, time travel."

"You are coming back though, right?" Rome asked recalling her conversation with Tony months prior. "I mean, I know this could bring everyone back, but, Nat those kids love you. I love you."

"Don't worry Rome," Natasha put an arm around her shoulder and started guiding her into the building, "Once I'm back I'll be able to tell Nick and Luna how I made the world a better place."

* * *

They had won but still, Rome felt as if they had lost. Tony and Natasha's deaths were only a week ago and she still felt like she had lost. Between getting her mother and Roxie settled back in, and work, she hadn't really gotten time to process that both her friends were really _gone_.

No, it wasn't until she found Nick in his bedroom clutching a picture of him and Nat, did she realize that she wasn't going to see the redhead again. "I miss her too," She told her son and sat next to him on his bed. She took the picture from him and smiled, "I'm really going to miss her."

"Why did she have to die?" He asked through his sniffles, "She told us she was going to come back."

"She made the world a better place," She told Nick, "She made it a better place so that you and Luna can grow up and be safe and happy."

"But I'm not happy, I'm sad." He sobbed.

Rome held him close to her chest, "I know you're sad now, but one day it won't hurt so much to think about them. One day you'll be able to talk about them without crying, or hesitation, one day you'll be able to think of fond memories without becoming sad." She rubbed his back and let him into her shirt as tears also streamed down her face. The words more for her then they were for Nick, "It won't happen right away, but slowly you'll work up the courage to do so. And that's all they could ever ask for, is remembering them with a smile on our faces. Remembering them for making the world a better place."


End file.
